Sony CEO says the company will make a new type of TV set

16th March, 2012 by adina
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Sir Howard Stringer, Sony CEO, during an event said that his company may have a replica to the Apple TV announcement. He told the Wall Street Journal that Sony too was working on a new kind of TV set. He did not offer any details about its nature, but said that he was sure Steve Jobs gad been working on a concept that Sony now would be countering. Sir Stringer claimed that a huge amount of R&D would be included in a totally different type of TV set.

He also estimated a long time necessary for anyone, be it Apple or Sony, to transition to this new concept.

Sony has been in agreement with other TV makers in bringing basic Internet features into its TV sets, but still making use of the familiar remote control system as well as a general absence of digital media awareness. Its efforts have been showing in its Google TV lineup, which has had poor sales.

Sir Stringer said there is currently a lack of progress in the whole industry, leading to commoditized hardware and a difficulty in getting profit. The TV group of Sony was recently reorganized giving birth to three teams in order to have a clearer focus and possibly lowering costs. Sir Stringer said that the company could not continue to sell TV sets like before because every device sold meant lost money.

It is not known what Sony could do to change its TV strategy. Google TV 2.0 is upgraded but it may not change any of its present position and cannot rely on Flash as a factor. Its own interface redesign is the most probable option. Apple’s solution is possibly a breakthrough because Jobs had insinuated he had finally found the answer to a TV set with a minimal interface. As many believed, he suggested Siri.

Sir Stringer did not refer specifically to the new TV set when saying that his company had all the necessary ingredients to take on Apple. Sony has spent five years to make an ecosystem able to “compete against Steve Jobs”. This includes not only PCs and TVs, but also tablets and smartphones. He saw other companies catching up on the iPhone but they needed to get “seamless” integration to achieve this. Sir Stringer said that the beauty of the iPhone consisted in its good organization.


     

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