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AlBDamned

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Mar 14, 2005
2,641
15
It seems not all is well at the big S: Link

7% of workforce and 20% of manufacturing facilities are going. Ouch.
 

Blue Velvet

Moderator emeritus
Jul 4, 2004
21,929
265
Perhaps they should have been concentrating on their research and development instead of sinking all that time, money and effort into Sony Pictures and Sony Music.
 

AlBDamned

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Mar 14, 2005
2,641
15
Blue Velvet said:
Perhaps they should have been concentrating on their research and development instead of sinking all that time, money and effort into Sony Pictures and Sony Music.


True. It's mad how corporations like that get complacent into various parts of their bread and butter markets (like portable music and TVs). Sony could have gone bang a long time ago if it weren't for the playstation which is their biggest money spinner by a country mile.

And, have you seen the Sony Pictures HQ in The Golden Square near Soho? Very, very plush. Real estate round there does not come cheap. They've got one or two big films in the pipeline (Da Vinci Code, Oliver Twist) but they have put out more than their fair share of dodgy stuff too (Resident Evil, Underworld...).
 

Blue Velvet

Moderator emeritus
Jul 4, 2004
21,929
265
They've been coasting on their laurels for far too long.

For years, they could place a premium price on their products because of the perceived quality. Look at the current prices of their TVs...

However over the past decade, all Japanese tech manufacturers have come under increasing pressure from Korean corporations in certain fields... where were LG & Samsung 15 years ago?
 

Abstract

macrumors Penryn
Dec 27, 2002
24,835
847
Location Location Location
I don't think it was "perceived quality." I think Sony made the best products for a while in some areas such as televisions. However, that's not the case anymore. Not even close. Their products are no better than anyone elses now, so they can't get away with as much.

I don't know how they let the TV market slip away. It was theirs. Same with portable music, whether it was the Walkman or their portable CD players. They just didn't adapt well to mp3s, and they didn't/don't develop their own LCDs.
 

Blue Velvet

Moderator emeritus
Jul 4, 2004
21,929
265
Abstract said:
I don't think it was "perceived quality."

As you say, it was in some areas. I've had some pretty poor Sony products over the years but that Sony halo carried over to other lines.

I'm thinking of a POS boombox thing I used to have a few years ago and the clockradio sitting next to my bed which pisses me off every time I need to adjust the alarm or tune into an FM station.
 

drlunanerd

macrumors 68000
Feb 14, 2004
1,698
178
I've been having a nightmare recently with a new Sony TV. Have had it replaced 4 times from 2 different suppliers and they've all had the same fault.

As a long time fan of Sony electronics I've been shocked at how badly their quality seems to have slipped. I think it's generally true across the board that manufacturers don't "make 'em like they used to", but Sony have certainly squandered their historical lead in the TV market.

I suspect that disgruntled workers at Sony's closing TV factories in Wales have stopped caring about quality control.
 

andiwm2003

macrumors 601
Mar 29, 2004
4,382
454
Boston, MA
sony got a image problem. i like my sony tv, i think the sone digital cameras are great. i love my sony photoprinter.

but sony sucks when it comes to support and sustain their product lines. they sell the product and forget about the whole line. no driver updates, no new models.

the other thing that sucks about sony is that they always do this proprietary/protected/non-compatible thing. why does the power-supply cable to recharge my camera have to be sony specific. that means i have to carry the damn thing back and forth to europe because the generic 5V powersupplys dont fit. let alone their dvd-players that are region coded and can't be hacked. or the special battery format that you can't buy when you're travelling.
they really make good stuff, but i don't recommend to by it because of these incompatibility problems with everything.

their products usually have less features (e.g. reading mp3 cd's or jpegs in their dvd-players) than the radio shack $20 no name products. of course not many people buy that stuff.

somebody should go there and streamline their business (aka fire at least half of the managment) and use the saved money to build a good, feature rich, integrated, compatible product portfolio without the marketing BS.

sadly they fire the wrong 10.000 people. fire 10.000 business developer, manager, VP's, marketing directors, and that kind of useless morons. saves more salary then cutting 10.000 people in production and R&D.
 

minimax

macrumors 6502
Feb 9, 2005
351
0
drlunanerd said:
I think it's generally true across the board that manufacturers don't "make 'em like they used to", but Sony have certainly squandered their historical lead in the TV market.

What 'historical lead'? Sony has always trailed Philips in picture quality (especially color) and durability. Many tests had proven this over the years. Your talking 'perceived quality' through their image. That one they have squandered yes.
 

Lacero

macrumors 604
Jan 20, 2005
6,637
3
The Sony products that I have owned in the past were pretty low quality. I would have expected better. The only product that has exceeded my expectation has been the 32" XBR HDTV.

The drop in Sony's fortunes especially of the consumer electronics music division has been the insistence of ATRAC. Everyone of course knows the whole story of conflicting interests within the company so it comes as no big surprise Sony has developed a serious case of bureaucracy.
 

Deepdale

macrumors 68000
May 4, 2005
1,965
0
New York
Lacero said:
The Sony products that I have owned in the past were pretty low quality. I would have expected better.

My sister and I have also been less than enthralled from several Sony products purchased over the last 5 years.
 

Savage Henry

macrumors 65816
If it wasn't for the likes of the PS2 cash cow and the Spiderman franchise, it could well be shedding more than just 10,000.

Their slow take up in areas like the MP3 and LCD TVs were probably due to protecting their own respective Walkman and Triniton ranges. But Apple and Samsung made the bold moves and climbed on board, leaving Sony still stood on the platform wondering whether there's another train coming. And the pre-Christmas release of Xbox could cause a nasty business bruise, depending on it's success (obviously).

I genuinely can't remember the last Sony product I bought; I think it was either a small TV (that's now bust) or a DVD player (that I gave away).

I think they need to reign in the incoherant strategies, harness their resources and sell to the marketplace with a stonger brand ... and if the boardroom mumbo-jumbo doesn't work, just make some decent pieces of kit that actually justify their premium prices.
 

aspro

macrumors 6502
Apr 29, 2005
284
0
Hobart, Australia
Its sad to see so many tech jobs going down the drain, but all the sony products I've bought over the last few years have been rather poor, so its no surprise they arent doing so well.
 

drlunanerd

macrumors 68000
Feb 14, 2004
1,698
178
minimax said:
What 'historical lead'? Sony has always trailed Philips in picture quality (especially color) and durability. Many tests had proven this over the years. Your talking 'perceived quality' through their image. That one they have squandered yes.

One word: Trinitron. Why are broadcast editing suites commonly equipped with Sony video monitors and not Philips? Where were Philips in high end computer monitors in the days before LCDs? Don't know what tests you're referring to, but I'm not bashing Philips. Perhaps this is a recent thing, which is what we're talking about in this thread, but until the patent on Trinitron expired Sony had the lead in CRT technology hands down for many years.
 
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