F55: Sony reports 8th consecutive quarter loss

I'd blame it mostly on a little thing called the iPod and people not feeling the need to upgrade their big, HD flat-screen TVs.
 
True. I got my Pioneer plasma in 2008 and have no intention of buying a new one until it fails on me. It's a healthy sign that more and more people shop less often.
 
Sony is under attack on all sides, in many cases from companies with deeper pockets.

Playstation - Xbox
Consumer Electronics - Apple / Samsung
Mobile Phones - Apple / Nokia / HTC / Samsung
Broadcast - Panasonic / Blackmagic (and others)
Digital Cinema - Red / Canon
Film Studio - Other studios
Music - Other studios / increase in piracy
Computing / Laptops / Tablets - Apple (and others)

Maybe they need to decide what is the core market and leave / spin off some of the others.
 
Nintendo is hurting as well.
A lot of big companies are hurting.

In the age of the Internet, boutique companies if they can make a better product and cheaper, will win.

Case in point - Warby Parker.
$100 glasses. Small company. Probably doing really well.

The little guys are the future. Black magic.

Sorry Sony, and I love Sony Professional Camera Division.

Maybe they will break off into their own thing.
 
Sony's bid for the home electronics/communications/entertainment/media integration market was pretty half-assed, apparently because of their typically unwieldy nature. with all their different, and huge, divisions, it must be like herding cats. cat's the size of aircraft carriers. Apple pretty much drank their milkshake in that regard.
 
TheEngineer said:
Sony is under attack on all sides, in many cases from companies with deeper pockets.

Playstation - Xbox
Consumer Electronics - Apple / Samsung
Mobile Phones - Apple / Nokia / HTC / Samsung
Broadcast - Panasonic / Blackmagic (and others)
Digital Cinema - Red / Canon
Film Studio - Other studios
Music - Other studios / increase in piracy
Computing / Laptops / Tablets - Apple (and others)

Maybe they need to decide what is the core market and leave / spin off some of the others.
Click to expand...

I'm with you here in everything but the Broadcast line. Panasonic and Blackmagic are really no threat to Sony in this segment.
 
Well, I wouldn't exactly say that Sony broadcast is under attack from Blackmagic, who can barely get the product shipped 10 months after announcement. Or, Panasonic for that matter. Different kind of fight in the broadcast and digital cinema sectors of the business than in the entertainment and consumer electronics worlds.

I recall several articles appearing in NYT, WSJ and other places over the past few months that just generally faulted the Japanese consumer electronics makers for losing dominance to Korean companies (Samsung, LG). And how ironic it is that Sony, who invented portable entertainment with the Walkman, allowed that to slip through its fingers.

It is the classic business-school study of how businesses need to reinvent themselves. It is more than often a conservative risk-averse corporate culture that kills the corporation. I lived in Rochester in the late 70's through mid '80's. I saw Xerox give away its copier business (and knew many of the mid-level mgrs and execs who were so fearful of risk that they destroyed the company). And Kodak-- they invented the digital camera and were afraid to market and develop it.

Sony and the Japanese manufacturers are the next victims. Apple is no longer invincible.

At least I have a couple of more years to enjoy periodic meetings at the very cool Sony Club atop 550 Madison before Sony has to vacate in 3 years.

Ned
 
Adamsenoj said:
I'm with you here in everything but the Broadcast line. Panasonic and Blackmagic are really no threat to Sony in this segment.
Click to expand...

I disagree. On the broadcast side Sony and Panasonic slug it out in things like cameras, VTR decks etc.

Blackmagic are taking a lot of Sony business with things like the Hyperdeck Studio that allows HD VTR style recording at a tiny fraction of the price of HDCAM.

Blackmagic are far more than "just" the rather half-arsed (so far) camera.

A lot of the broadcast infrastructure is becoming a commodity with thin margins which hits companies like Sony really hard.
 
TheEngineer said:
I disagree. On the broadcast side Sony and Panasonic slug it out in things like cameras, VTR decks etc.

Blackmagic are taking a lot of Sony business with things like the Hyperdeck Studio that allows HD VTR style recording at a tiny fraction of the price of HDCAM.

Blackmagic are far more than "just" the rather half-arsed (so far) camera.

A lot of the broadcast infrastructure is becoming a commodity with thin margins which hits companies like Sony really hard.
Click to expand...

mmm.ok then.
 
Just telling you what I see in my little bit of the UK broadcast market.

One company I work with just bought 40 Hyperdeck Studio Recorders!
 
The decline has been stunning. A decade ago the market valued Sony at $120 billion. A month ago it was under $11 billion. a 90% decline over the last decade or so. The rise of the Korean companies and Apple have had a huge impact on Sony overall. I used to point out that in my local mall there was an Apple store about 8 doors away from a Sony store. The Apple store always, always had sixty to eighty customers in it; the Sony store rarely had more than two.

Of course, I can't make the comparison anymore; the Sony store closed up shop and is gone.
 
Look at Microsoft, look at Sony, look at Panasonic - the big boys are hurting.
The new little guys are winning.

As I said before, the next twenty years, thanks to the Internet, will be the rise of smaller companies like Blackmagic and AJA and Red. Consumers are taking more risks on buying products from "unknown" companies because of the Internet, the ultimate word of mouth place.

Because of forums like this one, we have such an amazing collective wealth of shared knowledge and this is how we find out about things like, "wait a second the 5d Mark II can shoot really nice video" and "hey I can hack my GH2 and make some great imagery" - and all that.

I hope once the dust settles, and if Sony doesn't survive - the Sony Broadcast department either becomes their own company or they join up with Arri or Red or Blackmagic and we still get great amazing cameras.

In the end, we don't need huge multinational companies anymore.

They can't deliver specilized products.

Look at Apple's decline.

They don't care about the professional market because we are too small. But a small company like Avid - they can care for us, the little guys.
 
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