I have great admiration for Sony for pushing the technology envelope at the mass market level.
Isn't that what the high-end companies are doing in a different market segment, the segment that we are a part of and subscribe to? In that sense, criticizing Sony is ilke criticizing ourselves.
I don't know if a lot of people realize this, but Sony was also very much involved in the creation of VHS. When they subsequently developed the technically superior Beta format, they sold off their rights in VHS tchnology to JVC. Not a good move in hindsight but why would they keep an inferior product when they developed something better?
By the way, contrary to popular opinion, Beta didn't die when VHS won the mass market battle. It remained as a pro product specifically because it was better than VHS. Sony stopped making Beta players only about three years ago, and that was because digital recording systems have overtaken Beta.
I find it disappointing that people criticize Sony for developing a technically better product. When they abandon a product, it's only because they found something that they think is even better and would like to put it in the mass market, which is where the money is. Makes sense to me. They seem to earn a pretty good living doing what they do. And just as they dropped VHS for Beta, they dropped SACD (or are in the process of doing so), because they now have Blu-Ray, which can do anything SACD can do and more.
I see a pretty consistent strategy in their business decisions over the last 30 years.
The wildcard in the current battle is that the hardware manufacturers now also own content, the movie and recording studios, unlike the days of the VHS/Beta battle.
If something fails in the marketplace, it isn't because of the technology being inferior. It's a marketing issue. And in Sony's case, I think it's specifically a pricing issue. They charge too much. Although studies show that people will pay a premium of about 10%-15% for the Sony "name", I think that's eroding. The other manufacturers make good kit too and I think it's getting harder for Sony to justify the price premium, unless they do have something that's demonstrably superior to the competition.
I was thinking about this tonight as I just received my weekly flyer from the local electronic big box retailer chain. I see that the Blu-Ray players are now starting to drop in price. Smart move. The closer in price they get to HDD players, the greater the opportunity to win that war. But Sony don't seem to like to play the price competition game. If the marginal increase in performance has greater utility to consumers than the marginal increase in price, they will win. If not, they will lose. Unless of course they develop something better in the interim and then the game starts again.
I find it fascinating to watch the corporate moves and countermoves.
