As seen about a month ago on Bloomberg business news channel, Sony is to go through yet another reorganization, and this time it could mean Sony is on the verge of disappearing or so as its been known for ages.
That new reorganization would focus Sony (more or exclusively?) on Sony Music (producing, recording and selling) and Sony Movies, with the same steps, which are more on the soft side of the business instead of hardware... They have been more involved recently in the Broadcast/production, Educational, etc. type of gear.
My point here isn't so much about the low-cost hi-fi stuff they made, but more about the numerous technologies they invented, patented and/or brought to market, and the Pro gear. The list would be a long one.
I've been chewing on this for a while trying to figure out what this implies regarding new audio hardware technology developments for example... Since they were at the forefront of many audio technology developments that are now somewhat "obsolete".
Their audio (hi-fi and Pro) hardware catalog has been shrinking constantly for years. On the Pro side they use to have some nice items (e.g. microphones, mixers, recorders), more so than on the hi-fi side. A lot of those are gone already, some left though. With the restructuring I guess what's left may become history...
Not really worried about their consumer stuff as others will fill the gap. Its already more or less happened with TVs.
I think Sony's history is filled with missed opportunities (e.g. Betamax vs VHS, Digital Audio Tape entangled in copyright/serial copying issues, Mini-Disk recording, etc.). I remember some years ago Sony mentioning it WOULD NOT abandon the Mini-Disk recording format, good for me I have two of those, still they did let it go when faced with the evidence: the appeal of the Mp3 just being too strong (simple, low-cost, free music on rogue sites). I still think the Mini Disk is thechnologically superior, like a number of their inventions, but its more expensive and complicated... Two strikes at bat market wise.
I find it real sad to see hardware/technology Sony going down the drain slowly but surely, to the point of becoming some sort of a skeleton. Unfortunately, they missed the boat on a number of occasions re timing to market and technology related issues like copy, cost and complexity, even if these were better.
Now, who will develop the hardware technologies of the future? There aren't that many out there with the corporate, scientists and lab capabilities that Sony had. Maybe they'll licence or sell some of their patents to others to make some money. Major hardware technology developments (e.g. from analog to digital) might go slower for a while, specially considering the focus everywhere is more on software with the Internet wave.
Richard