How Is Sony Still A Major Company? Part 2
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Yesterday I made a post that touched people in their not so good place; where that is, you decide. Rather than posting my own comments on the same post, which would get lost because who actually reads the same post a second time just to see what extra comments were posted, I decided to do a follow up post with some extra research as requested by Andrew’s comment yesterday because in his opinion I am “either naive, ignorant or stupid.”
Most people that have blogs aren’t experts but consider themselves to be passionate about the topic at hand. I don’t believe I have ever called myself an expert in either the on-line world or in the real world. I consider myself to be somebody that is passionate about computers and technology and I like to share my opinions and suggestions with other people all around the world.
It is not a secret that the last several years at Sony haven’t been pretty. You may or may not agree with that general statement and I respect your opinion but let me show you some financial facts about recent and current happenings over in Sony land.
- According to GamersSquad, Sony’s games division is operating at loss of $237 million. Even in the corporate world, that is a crap load of money. It is also interesting to note that for each PS3 they sell, Sony actually losses $200. This means that the $499.99 60GB PS3 should be costing Sony at least $699.99 even for them to break even; we haven’t even started to talk about a profit yet. Why would a company market a product that would cause them to loss money everytime someone bought it? They must be a very generous company it to willing to operate in the red.
- According to ITWeek, the battery recall that Sony was involved over the past year or so has reportedly cost them between $175 and $265 million which is between 16% and 24% of their $1.09 billion operating profit. Once again, that is a crap load of money to be losing.
Those are financial facts people. I am not making this stuff up. I wanted to do some comparison shopping as research, just like Andrew requested. Why don’t we look at two 40″ 1080p LCD HDTV that are currently available on Best Buy’s website. Some of you may kick, scream, and holler at me at how I compare the models but I purposefully picked the most expensive Sony 40″ 1080p LCD HDTV and most expensive Samsung 40″ 1080p LCD HDTV; regardless of its feature. As you you should see, the differences between the two are minute at best.
- Samsung 40″ 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV — without any discounts is $2,299.99
- Sony BRAVIA XBR 40″ 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV — without any discounts is $2,999.99
- Now let’s compare the basic features:
- Samsung 40″ 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV
- Product Height: 27-1/2″ with stand, 25-4/5″ without stand
- Product Width: 39″
- Product Depth: 11-4/5″ with stand 4-1/5″ without stand
- Product Weight: 46.5 lbs. with stand 39.5 lbs. without stand
- Inputs: 3 HDMI, 2 RF, 2 component A/V (rear), 2 composite A/V (1 side, 1 rear), 2 S-video (1 side, 1 rear), 1 PC A/V (rear) and 1 DVI audio (rear)
- Outputs: 1 optical digital audio, stereo audio and headphone jack
- Contrast Ratio: 15,000:1
- Sony BRAVIA XBR 40″ 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV
- Product Height: 28-1/4″ with pedestal, 25-7/8″ without
- Product Width: 43-3/4″
- Product Depth: 11-4/5″ with stand, 4-1/5″ without
- Inputs: 5 analog audio (1 side, 4 rear), 2 component video, 3 composite video (1 side, 2 rear), 1 S-video, 1 PC video, 3 HDMI (1 side, 2 rear)
- Outputs: 1 digital audio, 1 headphone
- Contrast Ratio: 7,000:1
I could continue comparing different products but the amount of time that it would take isn’t worth the effort for me. However, if you were to do the same as I have just done, 9 times out of 10, Sony’s prices will be higher than their competitors.
Yesterday I mentioned that I only have owned 2 Sony electronic devices in my entire life. (1) PS1 and (2) DVD-ROM drive for my computer. I did this to prove a point that their are better alternatives out their for consumers to purchased.
I find it very sad that when people think of consumer electronics, they automatically say “Sony.” Regular consumers need to be introduced to other companies so they can get better products for their money. It seems as if Sony is this untouchable company that no one is aloud to bash or criticize. This raises another question, why is Sony such a sacred company?
If you have any comments or questions, feel free to post them or join all of us at http://live.pirillo.com.
3 Comments
marc klink
August 3rd, 2007
at 11:50am
My comments yesterday weren’t meant as a personal attack.
That being said, even the comparison you give cannot be a good one, as you are looking at written specs, from copy writers, and so the comaprison done by reading is only a start.
I can show you two high quality amplifiers, both rated 200 watts per channel, both UL approved, with many identical specifications.
For the purposes of this, let’s say one is made by Onkyo, a company that makes better than average products. Now let’s say the other amplifier is made by Krell. As you read this, you are probably asking what the hell Krell is. It happens to be the ne plus ultra of transistor (that is, not tube) amplifiers.
The Onkyo basic amplifier will cost around $1000 dollars, the Krell will cost around $4500.
Now by your method, you would immediately dismiss the Krell as being ridiculously overpriced. To anyone who has taken the time to listen, they know that the Krell is hands down the better amplifier, and also the better bargain, IF THEY CAN AFFORD it. The Krell will last for possibly 25 years without incident, and not be eclipsed in audio quality in that time. If perchance it is, it will still be in the top 3 of the competition.
So it is with many Sony products. I have a Sony television that is working well after 25 years. I have a Sony CDP-701ES CD player that was once top of the line, still working, after 23 years. The 701ES is built like a tank, and far exceeds anything you can find in build quality today for under $2000. [Again, you’re probably saying who would spend this much for a CD player. Many would if they had the money, and if they listened carefully to the differences in sound]
These are qualities that are, at first, intangible, but they are indeed there.
As for the gaming division of Sony, I really could not care less, as I don’t play games on a console…but my son would have a fit if I took away his PS1, PS2, or did not get him a PS3 soon. And yes, it is stupid for the gaming division to bleed money. I’d say it is mostly for exposure, so that when those kids who are playing on a PS3 get older, they will buy Sony products.
In ending , much is personal choice, but there is a quality difference with most Sony products [they have had a few stinkers, but not many]
BtEO
August 3rd, 2007
at 7:02pm
Mark, you point out the reliability of some of your Sony products (23 & 25 years), one upon a time that was true.
In the past five years I have seen Sony DVD players refuse to play discs that no other player I could find, cheap or expensive, had any trouble with. The DVD recorder that took my dad’s computer’s boot up time from 30 seconds to 3 minutes unless it was the only device on its IDE cable. My brother’s MP3 player needs its files transferred through SonicStage, a program that has consistently proven itself to me as buggy, slow, obtuse, and lacking in some fairly basic expected functionality. Not to mention that he is limited to five playlists on his player, and if I recall correctly those playlists are limited to 100 files; this is a player that can hold 10,000+ MP3s without breaking a sweat - to be fair there seem to be no hardware issues in this case. My other brother had a five year old Sony TV whose colour had almost totally gone - except for enormous red fringes in bright white areas. And I’ve seen another TV less than five years old - this one blew out the white areas on any brightness setting other than near minimum; of course by this point the remainder of the image was near impossible to see.
These are just my personal examples, and I’m sure I’ve forgotten a couple more, there were also well documented problems with early model PlayStation 2s culminating in a class action lawsuit.
Sony /used/ to be a byword for quality products but it is a reputation they no longer deserve.
MattD
August 4th, 2007
at 12:25pm
The issue I have with Sony began and ended with their rootkit fiasco.
Even within the most aggressive markets, there are lines you must never, ever cross. Sony crossed this line by purposely infecting *their* customer computers with the worst kind of malware.
Aside from the legal issues (Sony got off easy and are now trying to pass blame…), they betrayed their customers, opened third party electronic devices to outside hacking, created security risks that they themselves (and other anti-virus companies) found difficult to remove and used their partners to deliver these illegal malware-infected via CDs (which also put them at risk).
They may or may not create quality products - the PS3 with it’s advanced CELL processor, for example, is exciting in and of itself. The question of quality, however, is a moot point for me. I simply do not trust them any longer.
In this age of connected devices, trust is now a major consumer issue.