Disappointing quarter for Sony

[Boyd Ostroff]

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2005/...ap2162149.html

Tokyo-based Sony cut its full-year profit forecast nearly 90 percent on Thursday, citing tumbling TV prices and higher than expected restructuring costs at the ailing electronics unit.

Executive Deputy President Katsumi Ihara said Sony is aiming to turn around its TV operations by the second half of next year, adding that "painful job cuts will be inevitable."

[Marco Leavitt]

As someone who has cursed Sony's obsession with proprietary technology and other policies in the past, I still find it sad to watch them flounder like this. Let's hope they can learn some lessons and turn things around. Interesting that the article points out their embarrasing failure to counter the dominance of the IPod. If they hadn't repeatedly shot themselves in the foot by hobbling the potential of minidisc (which they continue to do), they might still be the industry leader in that category. They have a really nice technology there. Too bad they insist on smothering it. Apparently falling LCD TV prices are what's killing them though, according to Forbes. Interesting thought -- what if Sony had embraced the inevitable changeover to HD from the beginning and sold their TVs at mass market prices to begin with, wouldn't the falling prices be working to their advantage right now? Instead, like every other manufacturer, they've been trying to milk as much money as possible out of early adopters and now that cash cow is evaporating while there is still very little HD programming out there.

[Philip Williams]

Originally Posted by Marco Leavitt

As someone who has cursed Sony's obsession with proprietary technology and other policies in the past, I still find it sad to watch them flounder like this. Let's hope they can learn some lessons and turn things around.

I feel bad for the many hard working employees that will undoubtedly lose jobs at Sony. However, as a company, why feel sad for them? This is the company that just changed the hot shoe on their latest camcorders in a greedy attempt to force sony camcorder customers to buy only overpriced sony accessories. This is the same company that methodically combs through their camcorders and carefully removes critical features so that there is no chance that one of their $1,000 cams might take a sale away from one of their $3,000 cams. Can you imagine what the Canon Optura 50/60 or Panasonic GS400 would be like if those companies were run the same way? Would products like the HVX200 even come out?

And for the record, I'm not trying to bash Sony here. I think the HC1 and FX1 are exceptional and ground breaking products and mostly avoid the above mentioned pitfalls. Unfortunately, my gut reaction is to assume this is just a case of sony executives forgetting to audit sony's HDV line...

Nope, no tears for Sony here.

Philip Williams
www.philipwilliams.com