1000°

Where Will Sony Fail Next?

Seeking Alpha: "With its once-revered electronics business flagging, Sony Corp. (SNE) is placing a huge bet this year that 3-D technology will vault the company back into a leadership position in the living room. Will it be successful or will it be another lost opportunity from the former "Walkman King?"

Whether it was Apple (AAPL) with music players, Samsung (SSNLF.PK) with televisions or Amazon (AMZN) with e-readers, Sony has repeatedly been overtaken in businesses where it was once a leader."

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seekingalpha.com
Genesis55951d ago (Edited 5951d ago )

Maybe it will be Bluray. Oh never mind that's already being adopted faster than DVD. Gee! These people can't even wait for Sony to actually launch their products now before they start the viral campaigns.

Life is to short to be full of so much hate. Specially when it's just a company the makes electronic products.What's wrong with these people?

Noctis Aftermath5951d ago

..

DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

mastiffchild5951d ago

You have to shake your head and laugh at some of the hate these days.Amazingly people want to put their names to approving such badly researched(on purpose too) crap-damned by their own actions, sadly. Appears that we're not going to become a real community of gamers anytime soon.

lociefer5951d ago (Edited 5951d ago )

lol sony/ps3 are doomed, again, and again, and again, how the hell did this get approved anways

Sez 5951d ago

" people can't even wait for Sony to actually launch their products now before they start the viral campaigns."- much like sonyfanboys in every natal article.

ontopic:

i don't see many people running out to rebuy HDTV that will support 3-D. hell many people still don't have HDTV let alone looking to upgrade. HDTV is just starting to take off. now they are expecting people to run out a shell out more money on new tech. i don't see it adopting fast anytime soon.

Chubear5951d ago

Oh where are the "Bann this site!" "I knew it was hiphopgamer just from the title" comments. IGN post headline titles that don't even compare to the headlines of HHGS on this site but I never see the same sort of rhetoric I see with HHGS articles and they're supposed to be the "professionals.

Gee, why is that?

rezenu5951d ago

...Gotta love the media. :)

It never ends with them.

Microsoft Xbox 3605951d ago

With all these Sony doomed articles, you'd expect Sony to be bankrupt by now.

gamesmaster5951d ago

if i had a penny for every, sony is doomed / natal is doomed article...

Anon19745951d ago (Edited 5951d ago )

Only Vega75 above me looks to be the only one who actually read the article.

The headline confused me as this article has nothing to do with Sony's "failures". This article mentions a few points where Sony has struggled recently but certainly doesn't support the notion that Sony has "failed" at anything. The article itself was well written and factual but the headline seemed like it was made for another article entirely. Here's their points. Sony lost their dominance in portable music to Apple. That's true. Sony lost their TV dominance to Samsung and LG and sales of their HDTV's have lagged for the last 5 years. Also true. Sony's e-readers have been replaced by Amazon. I don't know how big of an impact that has, but whatever.

And now Sony has a lot riding on 3D, and this article is right...it's risky as hell. The transition to HDTV's has been slow and it's not like people are going to rush out overnight and replace their 1 or 2 year old HDTV sets with new 3D sets.

Sony stock price and overall revenue has been hammered by the appreciation of the Yen versus western currencies like all other Japanese electronics makers and the article is again correct in pointing out that the P/E ratio for Sony's stock is currently sitting at historic lows. It's telling that with the title "Where Will Sony Fail Next?" that they disclose that they hold long positions of Sony's stock in their portfolios. The future can't be that bleak for Sony if they're risking their clients funds on them.

Qui-Gon Jim5951d ago

People who have not yet bought an HDTV may, when they make that plunge, invest a little extra in a 3D TV instead. It's not like you have to buy a regular HDTV before you buy a 3D TV. I myself plan on replacing my SDTV with an HDTV, but now i might replace that one with my non-3D-ready HDTV and put a 3D TV into my home theater system.

Sez 5951d ago (Edited 5951d ago )

i'm in no way saying that sony will fail in supporting 3-D tv's. we all know tech evoles every year.but people paychecks and understanding of new tech doesn't. many of the new adopter to 3D tv's will be tech heads or hardcore gamers. most people won't be able to aford 3d tv's being as they will be more money than what HDTV are now. and some people are just making the switch to HDTV from SDTV. i think 3D tv's has a future. just not this soon. especially when HDTV's are just taking off.

@above

yes late adopters will help 3D tv. but they also could hurt it to. when people buy tv's they factor in price. many won't care or worry about if the tv they buy has 3D. they will go with what they can aford. and if giving a choice between a HDtv or a D HDTV that cost more. they will go with what they can aford.

i for one hope it does take off. and i also hope they have TV channels that will support it in the future.

mint royale5951d ago (Edited 5951d ago )

@darkride

Your well written analysis doesn't really belong here at N4G. Do you really think all the fanboys above read the article? The gamerzone/openzone thing was a nice idea but it just doesn't work when most openzoners are in this section.

As for the 3D tv's, I think although a risky thing to push at the moment, but if Sony can get their foot in the door before their competitors it could be a very good move for them. Over the next 10 years they should become standard so the potential market growth is huge.

beardpapa5951d ago (Edited 5951d ago )

Well even though the article has a lot of good points and true for that matter, you have to think about it as a whole. Sony, though having been the king in the portable audio department long ago, was a great pioneer of portable CD music. When the digital age came where minature harddrives were affordable, Apple took the risk and brought forth digital music. They took even greater risk having the iTunes store to ensure people would be inclined to purchase digital. At the time, Sony nor any other companies out there thought it'd be a profitable venture, especially when in 99, a 64mb Rio music player was sitting at a hefty $300 where a cd walkman can be had for much less - also take in mind 64 mb wasn't much, and $300 back in 99 was a lot. However, Apple took the opportunity, held onto it, and the Pepsi deals / promos later on brought it to what it is today. Eventually, Sony did come out with mp3 players and some sort of digital download store, but alas a little too late and poor integration made it a chore to use.

LG and Samsung can be said the same. They came out with their successful and inexpensive television sets while the Sony sets were still priced competitively with other comparative sets. However, given the time back in the day, the LGs and Samsungs were just much more appealing with their price point, hence they are now a house hold name. It's not to say that Sony really "failed" as a house hold tv brand name, but we can say that two additional companies have came into our homes and Sony's image is of the high-end even though it may not for the majority of its models.

And as for the e-reader, it is a similar situation to the iPod. Amazon had its own infrastructure for supporting digital books. Sony didn't. With that in mind, you also have to know that the Kindle always had wireless as a very positive feature - something the Sony readers don't have. Add to the expensive cost for the Sony reader, the Amazon kindle just looked much more appealing given the amount of features you get off of it and the added bonus of anywhere wireless connection to your favorite books.

I suppose you can say that a lot Sony has a lot of everything, but their biggest focus is their television line, given the fact that you see much more advertisement of Sony pictures and Sony television/bluray than you do any of their other products. Marketing [their other electronics] is something Sony doesn't put much thought/effort/money into.

So you can say that they have "failed" in a sense, but they really haven't when taking into consideration, a lot of their products are still sitting around in the market today. A failure is when you don't even see the product on shelves anymore.

specialguest5951d ago

Sony has taken many risk and met success, as well as failure. Through these risk taking actions, new technologies and trends were pushed to the forefront, and inspired healthy competition in its industry.

Lifendz5951d ago

PS1? PS2? PS3? If you say the either of the former you're out of your mind and if you say the latter you must be so myopic that you don't realize the U.S. doesn't equal world wide sales. World wide the PS3 is second only to the Wii and even if not ahead of the 360 despite having such a higher price point for so long. In the U.S. Sony is competitive but MS has claimed the U.S. as it's own...for now.

But seriously, failure? I was watching some AVGN videos about the 32x and Sega cd earlier today. Those were failures. Sony's console is far from it. I rarely report articles but this one is flat out why some people can't stand N4G.

eagle215951d ago

Sony has the balls to do what other companies just "wait and see" (cough*microsoft-balls*cough).

JasonPC360PS3Wii5951d ago

If they can get 32-42 3D TVs under $800 like HD TVs are now then Sony would kill. Now back to reality, 3D TVs wont be affordable for another 5 years when all media formats will be all digital. In three years it will be a smart move for Sony but right now it's pure fail.

iiprotocolii5951d ago

What people who write these kinds of articles fail to realize is that Sony is one of the lead pushers of new technologies. They were the first to implement DVD playback and technology into consoles (PS2), to which others regurgitated; and, now, they have added Blu-ray to the PS3, which has trumped HD DVD and leads the market in high-def mediums.

Do Sony's decisions to try new things out always pan out for them? Absolutely not. But what we do have to respect them for is that they aren't afraid to push boundaries and try new things. This is where almost everyone in the console business fail - they are ok with playing in the safe zone.

Given, the company, as the article states, has been losing quite a bit of ground in other areas of tech to other companies. The 3D thing IS a bit risky, but that's what Sony's known for - taking risks. It's what makes them a competitive company, and it's what makes them one of the more respected ones. Pretty good read, by the way.

table5951d ago (Edited 5951d ago )

lol, look who submitted the article - soda popinsky. I guess we know what he types into google on a daily basis.

HighDefinition5951d ago

My guess would be.....pleasing the people who hate them. :)

itisa5951d ago

And report Soda Popinsky as well because of this lame article.

gamingisnotacrime5951d ago

PSP
Blu Ray
PS3:HDMI for games, Cell Processor

According to Reality

PSP has sold over 50 million units
Blu Ray is being adopted at a faster rate than DVD
PS3 is on its way to tremendous success in its first 5 years, the other 5 years (10 year cycle) should also be sweet

blackpanther255951d ago (Edited 5951d ago )

the article does make sense about the things Sony did in the past. If the company had worked together as a whole they wouldn't have lost in a lot of those fields.

I'm not sure about this but i heard 3D enable TVs were only gonna be like 200-500 more but i could be wrong

DatNJDom815951d ago

........... Then I saw who contributed the article............ sigh turned to LOL...........

darthv725951d ago

however, they do have interest. They can make this work like they made bluray. People forget that in order for something to succeed it has to have support. Who better to support this than sony. They have content from their movie studios they own not to mention other studios they are friends with.

They have tv's to support this because they mfg tv's and have friends who do as well (panasonic, rca, etc).

They have the players and platform to support it (bluray, ps3).

The only way for it to fail is if they falter in their support.

This is how bluray won the hd war as well. Same trifecta. Content, platform, delivery.

vhero5951d ago

I thought I wonder what 360 fanboy posted this article at N4g and then looked. Yep I was right it was a 360 fanboy and one of the big ones too.

thesummerofgeorge5951d ago

Although they get ragged on for it every step of the way, I'm glad Sony takes this risks and forces the rest of the industry to progress, otherwise we'd all still be playing games on DVDs, we wouldn't have games like U2. They are leaders in an industry full of followers, I'm no fan of companies that play it safe, follow trends, and react rather than act. Whether the 3D thing works or not, (and I believe it will, as we all like our toys, and it looks cool as hell) at least they're pushing forward and taking strides towards the next big thing, so it can either fail and on to the next, or it can thrive and we all reap the benefits, and then on to the next. Like it or not it's progress, we should all be thankful that progress hasn't been stunted by complacency.

TheDeadMetalhead5951d ago (Edited 5951d ago )

@Darkride and Mint Royale - Did you actually expect anyone to want to give the site hits with a title like that? It basically screams "Crying 360 fanboy" (even if the article itself doesn't). Seriously, that title is HHG-bad. :/

Saaking5951d ago

The Ps3 is selllig more AND faster than the 360. It also has the most exclusives, multiplats are looking identical now as well. i wonder what these fools think about the 360. If the PS3 is doomed then the 360 is already buried.

SilentNegotiator5951d ago (Edited 5951d ago )

The PSTREE IS TEH DOOMED articles are back!

SilentNegotiator5951d ago

This guy takes logic from humorous movies too seriously.

zoks3105951d ago (Edited 5951d ago )

The worse that will happen is 3DTV will slow HDTV sales as late HDTV adapters wait for 3DTV to be released.
3D TV is the next step for home entertainment, once it hits the market it will make stand alone HDTV obsolete and companies will only support and develope 3D/HD TV hybrids. So you pretty much don't have a choice here, 3D is the future by default.

Sony is making the right choice getting 3D out first which means they have learned from their mistakes when the digital era started and they entered too late. With partners like Disney, ESPN, IMAX, Discovery, and many more high profile companies 3D will be a sure success.

The success of 3D in the theaters have proved that people want 3D and Sony is going to give it to them.

Bigpappy5951d ago

Most people have not even moved to 1080P yet, let alone LED. 3DTV will have to work without glasses; be cheaper than plain OLED TVs, which aren't even selling yet; and be supported the gamer (The early adopter of new tech). If they release 3DTV at a high price point, I could see it taking 3 year to start to be even considered by the general public. The average person would be scared of the tech for general use. They would think it is going to screw up their eye or something. Most people are actually scared of tech.

+ Show (34) more repliesLast reply 5951d ago
Marty83705951d ago (Edited 5951d ago )

Sony always takes calculated risks with innovating new tech, that how to stay ahead in the field.

Walkmans, Cd media, Trinatron TV, PlayStation(entry into console market) OLED panels, PS2(using DVD media in a console),Cell processor, Blu-ray media, PS3(using Blu-ray media in a console),all were risks that did / or are going to pay off in the long term.

Jump Out, Play B3yond

chrisulloa5951d ago

Sony had the portable music industry, but it lost to Apple. It had the gaming industry, but it lost to Microsoft and Nintendo. It had the e-reader industry and it lost to Amazon. It had the TV industry, but again it lost to Samsung. The only thing it has right now is blu-ray, and who knows how long that'll last. Sony is desperately gambling to keep up.

Bill Gates5951d ago (Edited 5951d ago )

Go SONY go!!

karan86245951d ago

Thats because Sony isnt a follower. Sony innovates. Sony MADE those products, and made them popular, and made them work

Then other companies copy so they take over those spots. Then sony innovates and takes it all back, better than before. Thats the cycle

Sony TOOK the industry from Nintendo before, BTW
Sony WILL have the 3D TV market locked down for the first few years
E-reader never caught on anywhere
Portable music was first done properly by sony. I like apple too, so good for them for innovating. They did what sony does

And blu-ray? Thats sony's, gonna stay sony's, because nobody else took the risk, Sony did, and this time around Sony took the market share first

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 5951d ago
RedDragan5951d ago

Sony developed the AAC music format that Apple iPod uses.

Seriously, this article has been reported as flamebait!

Marty83705951d ago

AAC was developed with the cooperation and contributions of companies including Fraunhofer IIS, AT&T Bell Laboratories, Dolby, Sony Corporation and Nokia.

Sony played a part in the creating ACC, but was not soley responsible for the tech.

mrv3215951d ago

Blu-ray, HDMi, Portable, PS3, HDTV... all went well with Sony.

Even Betamax Sony's 'failure' was actually a surprising success since it was still widely use by media for years.

sikbeta5951d ago

lol @ you, poor soul

Betamax was [/still] supported by the Professional Broadcast Video Industry globally

mcnablejr5951d ago

why the HELL would you care about that? it has nothing to do with you and never will do.

Show all comments (155)
30°

Top Racers Need Top Gear – Introducing the Forza Horizon 6 Limited Edition Controller and Headset

Omar writes: "With the Horizon Festival coming to breathtaking Japan, you’ll need the essential gear to prove you’ve got what it takes to become a Horizon Legend as you cruise, drift and explore an open world full of spectacular driving experiences. That’s why we’re happy to announce the newest Limited Edition Xbox Wireless Controller and Wireless Headset collection, featuring inspired designs from Forza Horizon 6. The bright cyan and lime colorways celebrate the Horizon Festival’s recognition of iconic cars and hit music, with special features that are sure to impress any collector."

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news.xbox.com
40°

EasySMX D05 review

You can get Hall effect controllers slightly cheaper, but you'd struggle to find as feature-rich a package without some heavy, heavy sales.

70°

"It's Just So Lame" - RTGI Modder Thinks DLSS 5 Is Impressive But Shares AI Slop Sentiment

Pascal Gilcher calls DLSS 5 impressive but shares the "AI slop" sentiment, explaining the likely tech behind it and why he dislikes it.

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wccftech.com
CrimsonWing6931d ago

I fail to see how this is AI shhhhlllloooop. Looking at the different games they showed, this has made many of them look far better.

isarai_lee31d ago (Edited 31d ago )

It's AI slop because it ignores the artists intent and changes the details ESPECIALLY when it comes to character faces. The scariest part of it is introducing it as the next stage of DLSS, a feature where the current iteration already has controversy surrounding it and for quite a lot of games cannot be fully disabled. So reasonably the precident is already set for what path this could take, and it's not good

blacktiger31d ago

In case you didn't watch the video then let me point just one part. It overrides the lighting. Then the question of what is the point of ray tracing cost and so on. Many of the lighting deletes shadow, including shadow on the face like eyes even chin.

Chard30d ago

Why stop at art when it comes to human input - why not just have AI play the game for us, remove human input altogether

theshizer31d ago

If you don’t like it, just don’t enable it. Personally I think it looks great from the videos I have seen.

isarai_lee31d ago

And what about when you can't? Cause there's plenty of games where you cannot fully disable dlss already, i mean we're well into an era where it's a major crutch for developers to cover up their cut corners, why would this be any different?

blacktiger31d ago

You are playing with people's money and allow Nvidia to scam you.

In case you didn't watch the video then let me point just one part. It overrides the lighting. Then the question of what is the point of ray tracing cost. This is all lie to raise the cost of the graphic card.

Andrew33631d ago

Making characters look more realistic not ok because we want the developer to decide on how the game was intended to look. - Internet

Change entire game through mods thus changing how the developers intended the game to be is ok. - Internet

isarai_lee31d ago

Something consumers can do to a product after they have purchased it, entirely optional and can always be undone with a fresh install

VS

The leading gaming hardware manufacturer making this the next iteration of the main AA/Upscaling technique that is heavily relied upod by modern devs and is not optional in most games.

Not at all the same but nice try

jwillj2k431d ago

At the moment you need 2 5090’s just to get an image on the screen so this is all vaporware until proven otherwise.

Andrew33631d ago

The good news is you can just not use it as well.

Christopher30d ago

It's all about choice in the end. But, I would say that calling it 'more realistic' is quite a stretch. It looks like AI art, and that's rarely realistic.

Urrakia3431d ago

All the comments I see are reminding me of how we got to the current state of gaming when microtransactions were first introduced: "It's completely optional guys, we promise! If you don't like it just don't buy it!"

I think we all know how that ended up.

Popsicle31d ago (Edited 31d ago )

I had the same exact thought the first time this was brought up in a separate article about a week ago. Took me straight back to the conversations surrounding “horse armor.” Just don’t buy it they said. Years later, many IPs I previously enjoyed are so infected with monetization schemes that I don’t even consider purchasing them anymore.

DLSS 5 and the like are the same thing wrapped in a different package. History rhymes but many of us never learn from it.

blacktiger31d ago

Biggest Scam. Overrides lighting and shadow. So why keep Ray tracing? It's all a scam to raise graphic card. We now see Nvidia with Microsoft downturn anything against them. Sony is next!