Sony Struggles To Play On Shifting Digital Battlefield

There was a good overview in the Sunday LA Times of Sony Corp’s struggles to meld it’s diverse entertainment and electronics units into a competitive force in the rapidly changing digital marketplace.  The conclusion of the article is that if Sony can’t do it; perhaps no one can.  But it also leaves one wondering if the answer isn’t that this Titanic of a corporation isn’t too large to navigate in the ever changing currents of modern technology.  Or will most breakthroughs in the digital age be made by nimble smaller companies able to re-invent themselves to take advantage of ever-changing winds.

Sony "…invented the Walkman and the compact disc, products that revolutionized the way people listen to music. It builds computers, TVs, stereos, cameras and PlayStations, the world’s most popular video game console," wrote staff writers Jon Healey and Alex Pham in the LA Times.

"…But Sony’s efforts to parlay its engineering and entertainment assets into compelling products and services for the Internet Age have yielded little to crow about. In particular, its online music store, downloadable movie service and digital music players have fallen flat in a market primed for new ways to play."

"Sony’s difficulties highlight the challenges facing the entertainment industry as it tries to find its footing in an era when cheap digital technology gives consumers more power and choices. If the one company on the planet that produces movies, music and games as well as the devices that play them can’t figure out how to make them work profitably together, who can?"

This week, Sony’s new chief executive, Welsh-born Howard Stringer, is expected to announce a shake-up at the 59-year-old icon. It’s the latest in a long series of efforts to generate fusion, not fission, from Sony’s creative and gadget-making units."

Read the entire LA Times article here.