In the coming months, Sony is quietly preparing a big investment to expand the company itself to challenge the rival of Apple.Inc. According to Chief Executive Howard Stringer, they are planning to use it’s state of the art PlayStation 3 and its PlayStation Portable videogaming machine, along with their line up of Bravia high-definition TV’s, to process such a challenge to let users download TV shows and movies. Just like Apple, letting people download music and videos from their iTunes store for people’s iPods.
Analysts expected this sooner or later because of how Internet connections have become faster over the years. They believe this will be a big potential market and later on become superior than the digital music market. Park Associates, a market-research and consulting firm, estimates that annual revenue from Internet video, including ad-based and user-paid services, could exceed $7 billion in the U.S. alone by 2010. According to more and more analysts they believe there is no winner just yet because the market is still open and up for grabs. Park Associates, Kurt Scherf, believes it comes down to who provides the best high-definition experience for consumers and viewers.
If Sony enters into the market carefully and powerfully, they will make a positive imprint in the market, helping sales of the PS3 and PSP videogame devices. Just last week, Sony introduced a new Walkman for the U.S. market, that for the first time ever in Walkman history, it can play movie trailers and music videos as an addition to listening to music. As the music download service called Connect dries out, the walkmans will be able to take full advantage of Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Media Software. Sony will face challenges with Apple and as well as the Xbox 360’s device which can also be used for video downloading. Apple will face problems too, once Sony comes into play due to the fact of movie studios they deal with.
Mr. Stringer is full sail ahead and has high hopes of causing a positive effect for Sony as a company and for the consumers they are aiming at. This is an indication of how determined he is to get the job done.