Sony Seeking to Beat Apple in Revolutionizing Television

[MacRumors]

Much has been made of Steve Jobs' revelation in his authorized biography about having "cracked" how to develop a revolutionary interface for an integrated television set, a disclosure that has led to claims of Apple working to launch a Siri-enabled television set by 2013.

The Wall Street Journal takes a look at how seriously Sony is taking the Apple threat, sharing comments from Sony CEO Howard Stringer about the strategies the company is seeking to employ, beginning with a "platform" spanning all the way from mobile devices to television sets.

Sony has a "four screen" strategy of offering network services on mobile phones, tablet computers, personal computers and TV sets. "I spent the last five years building a platform so I can compete against Steve Jobs," Mr. Stringer said. "It's finished, and it's launching now."

Stringer also claims that Sony has some ideas about a "different kind of TV set" that it has been working on as it seeks to beat Apple to the punch.

Mr. Stringer declined to discuss details of what Sony has on the drawing board, but said, "There's a tremendous amount of R&D going into a different kind of TV set." He added that he has "no doubt" Apple's late leader Steve Jobs also was working on changing the traditional TV set.

"That's what we're all looking for," said Mr. Stringer. "We can't continue selling TV sets [the way we have been]. Every TV set we all make loses money."

Stringer touches on several other topics in his interview, including an admission that Sony failed to realize how difficult it would be to get content providers to sign on to provide 3-D programming, a reluctance that has significantly slowed adoption of the technology. Stringer also briefly mentions the iPhone and his belief that other platforms will match the iOS experience, but that those platforms will need to adopt the seamless experience Apple has championed for its "well organized" devices and ecosystem.

Article Link: Sony Seeking to Beat Apple in Revolutionizing Television

 

[*LTD*]

Good luck with that.

 

[Jerome Morrow]

For a moment there I thought we were in trouble.

 

[AJH1993]

Good luck with that.

Yeah, Sony, a company producing TV's for over 30 years will surely lose to Apple Television sales that are just starting out.

 

[nagromme]

I hope they come up with something interesting, but I doubt it will be the SAME approach Apple takes (assuming Apple even moves forward with it). They’re trying to be first at something, but they don’t know what that something is

 

[Wickedgardengtp]

That guy looks money hungry

 

[Tiger8]

Yeah, Sony, a company producing TV's for over 30 years will surely lose to Apple Television sales that are just starting out.

Never say never. Look at what happened to Nokia... and RIM... and Microsoft Phone...

 

[BJ.SoundWave360]

Sony

Sony, I remember as a pretty cool company. But, their time has passed. Compare the UI on the PS3 to the Xbox360 for instance. It's like they simply don't get it. Their new tv effort will probably be defined by proprietary memory sticks and ugly clunky UI.

 

[OllyW]

Good luck with that.

Who, Apple or Sony?

We are still waiting to see anything that's revolutionary from any company in regards to the TV market.

 

[fishmoose]

IF Apple makes a TV - I don't expect it to compete with the type of TV's Sony are doing I.e the money losing one's.

 

[scbn]

Can't trust the guy from Sony. They don't have the ecosystem as Apple does and they'll have the same problems with content providers.

 

[Skika]

Well i'm just glad they are waking up...

 

[amirite]

Yeah, Sony, a company producing TV's for over 30 years will surely lose to Apple Television sales that are just starting out.

I agree. PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They're not going to just walk in.

 

[arn]

Yeah, Sony, a company producing TV's for over 30 years will surely lose to Apple Television sales that are just starting out.

Palm CEO in 2006 regarding Apple iPhone:

"We've learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent phone,'' he said. "PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They're not going to just walk in.''

https://www.macrumors.com/2006/11/22/palm-ceo-on-apple-iphone-threat/

3 years after the iPhone was released, Palm was basically finished. Sold to HP.

 

[*LTD*]

Yeah, Sony, a company producing TV's for over 30 years will surely lose to Apple Television sales that are just starting out.

Yeah, Nokia, a company producing phones for 30 years will surely lose to Apple iPhone sales that are just starting out.

You can fill that "Nokia" space in with any number of the old guard names. Motorola, Microsoft, Palm, you name it. Do the same for tablets.

Sanjay Jha in 2007: "But is Apple ready for us?" Yeah, they nearly killed your business. Ask Ballmer what Apple did to Windows Mobile. Apple left a path of destruction in their wake. As for tablets, Apple blew the pre-2010 market into oblivion. We had tablets in the past. Look at tablets post January 2010.

Never underestimate Apple in a new market. Anyone that puts User Experience first and has the ecosystem to back it up has a more than even chance of shaking things up.

Sony makes the hardware. So what. Sony is Panasonic is LG is Samsung. You can barely tell them apart. It's all just specs. 120 Hz MontionFlow vs. the other guy's 120hz MotionCinemaX+. LOL. One is slightly smoother than the other, but the other does SD content better, but this one has internet connectivity, yes and so does the other, but this guy's remote is easier, etc. Same ****. Six of one, a half dozen of the other.

This is about software, UI, and access to content. When it comes to content distribution and ways to consume that content, no one does it better than Apple.

The "Apple implementation" usually tends to change the game, especially when it's about synergy between hardware+software.

 

[whoami]

good luck sony!!!

apple has already killed the walkman, nearly killed the psp, and on to the next!

b.t.w. thanks for the great camera in the 4S sony!

 

[tigres]

New product ID

Sony, KDL-XBR6-49a8972bv6KTP99z58v

Always keeping their numbers easy and simple to remember.

 

[fishmoose]

Simple fact is Sony losing money while Apple is making money and have more capital at hand. If anyone is going to be able to buy content deals and "revolutionize the TV" it won't be a company struggling with cash. I like Sony but Stringer doesn't have a clue - he's a bozo to use a Jobs expression.

 

[Fraaaa]

And why should be trust them? These are the guys that brought us Qriocity!

 

[sixsixj]

Drew Carey's hair looks awful.

 

[godslabrat]

Sony has been a long-time champion of building high-quality TVs, but their UI has plain sucked on every product I've ever used. Whatever Apple's plan is, it's clear they intend to simplify the TV experience... and that has been the exact opposite of ANYTHING Sony has EVER done.

 

[peteullo]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

Sony hasn't revolutionized anything since the Walkman.

 

[JilzVT]

What a self-serving, egotistical statement from a CEO. You represent a COMPANY, don't make it about YOU vs. Steve Jobs. It's Sony vs. Apple. Check your personal conquests at the door.

 

[leroypants]

I can't wait for a tv that will cost twice as much, only suppots 720p and will not allow me to hook up a blu ray player, a xbox 360, or a ps3.

 

[Jerome Morrow]

Yeah, Sony, a company producing TV's for over 30 years will surely lose to Apple Television sales that are just starting out.

They are losing money 7 years now.