Quote:
Originally Posted by CommonReader
A very US centric view at things.
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Perhaps.
But none of the reports on Sony's travails depicts them as regional, but as global. If their troubles were US-based only, they could do as Philips did and withdraw to markets where their lineup is better received. All the available evidence is that Sony losses are global and the competitors beating them like a drum (Apple, Microsoft, Sharp, Samsung, LG, etc) include the major global players, not just the local specialists (Vizio, Nook, etc). And they are beating them globally. They really *are* at the bottom of the (name brand) Consumer Electronics pecking order in most categories.
Sony's inability to compete in the US isn't a cause of their problems but a *result* of their problems; of their reliance on brand loyalty instead of market research, of ignoring clear market trends, of neglecting shifting customer needs and preferences.
Whatever income brand loyalty might bring them in those markets (if any) where their pricing is not perceived as out of line with their product quality is not doing much to close the gap of red ink. If anything, their global losses are increasing year by year.
Sony has not bottomed out yet.
Things can and *will* get worse before they can start to get better.
Again: Sony is not going to disappear overnight. But their struggle to relevance and profitability is going to be a long one and will likely take the rest of the decade.