Thursday, November 6, 2003
The Pride That Killed Sony
Posted by Ed Hansberry in "THE COMPETITION" @ 09:30 AM
http://www.forbes.com/home/2003/11/05/cz_bf_1104sony.html
"The once seemingly-invincible Sony has stumbled during the stewardship of Chairman and Chief Executive Nobuyuki Idei. Sales and profits have plunged and the company has been forced into a major restructuring. Idei spent so much time thinking about telecommunications and the Internet that he ignored the company's core electronics division and key products like televisions."
What could this mean for their computing business, and as it relates to this site, their line of Clie PDAs?
"Sony has suffered from hubris, the pride that kills. Several years ago, a Sony executive told me that because it no longer had "any real competitors" it must concentrate on its "creative dreams." No longer. On October 28, Sony held a press conference, in a hall filled with over 1,000 journalists, to announce a major restructuring to cope with plunging sales and profits."
No one I've talked to has been able to see any way possible for Sony to make money on their line of Palm OS based Clies, but man they sure do have style - products of their "creative dreams" it seems. Well, Sony has now had a stiff dose of reality, being forced to cut 20,000 jobs in a country where hiring for life is still the norm, not the exception. They are also cutting components from 840,000 to 100,000. Maybe the Clie line will be exempt from these cuts, but I doubt it. It would seem the days of 3 new designs every 3-4 months are over.
"The once seemingly-invincible Sony has stumbled during the stewardship of Chairman and Chief Executive Nobuyuki Idei. Sales and profits have plunged and the company has been forced into a major restructuring. Idei spent so much time thinking about telecommunications and the Internet that he ignored the company's core electronics division and key products like televisions."
What could this mean for their computing business, and as it relates to this site, their line of Clie PDAs?
"Sony has suffered from hubris, the pride that kills. Several years ago, a Sony executive told me that because it no longer had "any real competitors" it must concentrate on its "creative dreams." No longer. On October 28, Sony held a press conference, in a hall filled with over 1,000 journalists, to announce a major restructuring to cope with plunging sales and profits."
No one I've talked to has been able to see any way possible for Sony to make money on their line of Palm OS based Clies, but man they sure do have style - products of their "creative dreams" it seems. Well, Sony has now had a stiff dose of reality, being forced to cut 20,000 jobs in a country where hiring for life is still the norm, not the exception. They are also cutting components from 840,000 to 100,000. Maybe the Clie line will be exempt from these cuts, but I doubt it. It would seem the days of 3 new designs every 3-4 months are over.
