Sony is breaking up...

[3db]

http://www.soundandvision.com/content/breaking-hard-do

 

[Swerd]

Sorry to hear that news, but at the same time, I'm not surprised.

Sony once was a major innovator in audio and video products, from the original pocket transistor radios in the early 1960s, to the visibly superior pictures of the Trinitron TVs in the 1970s, to the development (along with Phillips) of the compact disc. And don't forget the Walkman, Discman, etc. Most of their products had that "look, feel, and ease of use" that put Sony ahead of most of their competitors when it came to industrial design.

And sometime in the last 10 or 20 years, Sony lost all that.

 

[slipperybidness]

Yup, put Sony right on the same list as Rat Shack.

Simply not what they used to be.

 

[markw]

I think they now own more music rights than anyone or any conglomerate in the world and make so much dinero from that that it could easily be self sustaining.

As for tech, well, I think their glory days of innovator are over but I sure hope they keep offering those fine low cost, high performing Blu-ray players.

 

[Seth=L]

There is a silver lining to this of course, there is always the possibility that Sony Audio/Video could come back in a big and radically different way. If they stay the course they would surely sink, but who knows what they will come up with.

 

[Irvrobinson]

And sometime in the last 10 or 20 years, Sony lost all that.

IMO, which is worth about what you're paying for it, Sony was an analog company that got lost in the digital world. Even the vaunted CD was more a mechanical device than a digital device, and the most expensive ICs in CD players were often designed in Europe (Philips) and the US. Not to mention that any old-line company, I don't care what nation they're in or what industry they're in, seldom deals with disruptive competition well. Most big-company executives are very conservative people who avoid failure more than chase success. After an extended period of that mentality even big rich companies falter.

 

[Swerd]

Sony was an analog company that got lost in the digital world.

Yes, exactly.

They weren't the only ones to suffer that fate. Hewlett Packard comes to mind.

 

[slipperybidness]

Yes, exactly.

They weren't the only ones to suffer that fate. Hewlett Packard comes to mind.

Yeah, but HP was able to diversify, find new markets, and survive.

I use quite a few Agilent lab instruments (GC, MS, etc). Some of the oldest Mass Specs still have the HP logo, before they spun that division off and created Agilent.

 

[Rickster71]

I think it will be a good thing in the long run. Gives them the chance to spin off lees lucrative sectors.
Areas that may then thrive when not anchored to a behemoth.
Below is some info I posted in a different Sony thread:
http://www.statista.com/statistics/279272/proportion-of-sonys-sales-by-business/
Sony announced total revenue of 75.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2014, the highest the figure has been since 2008. Of this revenue in 2014, over 21 percent, equivalent to 15.83 billion U.S. dollars, was generated in mobile products and communications.

 

[Irvrobinson]

Yes, exactly.

They weren't the only ones to suffer that fate. Hewlett Packard comes to mind.

HP is a more complex case study, IMO, and got two doses of very ambitious and adventurous CEOs (Fiorina and Hurd) who roiled the company in various ways. I was more thinking of Kodak, the old-line US television networks, any European computer systems company, any European electronics company, and various US retailers, just to name some examples that come to mind.

 

[Swerd]

HP is a more complex case study, IMO, and got two doses of very ambitious and adventurous CEOs (Fiorina and Hurd) who roiled the company in various ways. I was more thinking of Kodak, the old-line US television networks, any European computer systems company, any European electronics company, and various US retailers.

HP is still alive, but not the same company it was back in the days when it led the world with analytical electronic instruments, all of them analog. Like slipbid, I remember many HP lab instruments that worked very well and had control panels that were simple and intuitive. Their first generation digital instruments were a nightmare.

Sony, as others have pointed out, will remain in music and movies. Their days as a consumer electronics innovator are gone.

Kodak is belly-up. Is Xerox still alive?

 

[Irvrobinson]

Is Xerox still alive?

Oh yeah. Document management services. 140,000 employees. No copiers though.

[edit] The "no copiers" part isn't really correct. They are still a full-line printer OEM.

 

[Seth=L]

Oh yeah. Document management services. 140,000 employees. No copiers though.

[edit] The "no copiers" part isn't really correct. They are still a full-line printer OEM.

At least the adapted

 

[slipperybidness]

HP is still alive, but not the same company it was back in the days when it led the world with analytical electronic instruments, all of them analog. Like slipbid, I remember many HP lab instruments that worked very well and had control panels that were simple and intuitive. Their first generation digital instruments were a nightmare.

Sony, as others have pointed out, will remain in music and movies. Their days as a consumer electronics innovator are gone.

Kodak is belly-up. Is Xerox still alive?

Kodak might be belly up, but Eastman is still around (remember, it was Eastman Kodak for a while).

It's been 10+ years, but I have worked as a contractor in an Eastman chemical plant at few times.

Yeah Xerox is still around. They have a freaking great business model right now. They rent out these really nice networked printers. We pay like $3K per printer per month on a rental! I'm not sure which business genius thought that was worth our $.

A bit of Xerox history: Steve Jobs stole the human/computer GUI interfacing ideas from Xerox

 

[Irvrobinson]

A bit of Xerox history: Steve Jobs stole the human/computer GUI interfacing ideas from Xerox

"Stole" ideas? Hardly. If not for people building on the innovations of others there wouldn't be any of the infrastructure necessary for us to have this discussion. And it was Xerox PARC, which still exists too.

 

[Mark of Cenla]

I cannot be blamed for Sony's issues. In the last two years, I have bought the following Sony products:

32" TV
Blu-ray player
subwoofer
CD player
bookshelf speakers
micro stereo


Peace and goodwill.

 

[Schurkey]

Yup, put Sony right on the same list as Rat Shack.

Simply not what they used to be.

The last Sony crap (VCR) I owned will likely be the last Sony crap I own. Let them follow Rat Shack out-of-business, I have been expecting bankruptcy for both of them for ten years. (Clearly, I don't have an accurate crystal ball, since they're still in business, although Rat Shack seems to be mortally wounded, and Sony is bleeding.)

The list of Formerly Great Japanese companies that offshored their product and quality-control to Communist China is getting pretty long. Fortunately, they're all getting what they deserve, at least in the American market.