So recently I have been talking with many friends and users of multiple sites and employees at Best Buy's Canada headquarters as well as local employees of Future Shop. The topic has been about the tablet and smart phone industries and how different companies could actually challenge Apple or successfully launch products in those markets.

We did chat about how RIM could succeed coming to the conclusion that RIM should likely acquire or work with Canadian company DataWind to produce cheaper high end smart phones and tablets which could retail as cheaply as 45$ (Smart Phones) or 100$(Tablet) and still bring in a healthy profit. I was concluded that RIM couldn't maintain its market share as a high end business centric phone and that the company should take advantage of the lack of cheap quality smart phones and tablets. After seeing how well HP's Touch Pad did at 100$ and how well PlayBook is doing at its highly reduced cost it is safe to say their is a market for affordable high quality tablets.

Back on topic, Sony

We all know that Sony is very interested in taking on Apple as they already are with their tablets and phones. But is Sony really capable of landing a heavy blow on Apple? Right now the announced PlayStation Store is starting to roll onto Sony certified devices. This move will greatly help Sony create a competitive product. With Ericsson now in Sony hands its time for Sony to truly define its phones and tablets from Apple. But how can Sony do that?

Well Sony has the right idea bringing its PlayStation titles and brand to Sony's phones and tablets. I notice that Sony isn't planning on licensing Apple with the PS Store. Sony wants its Xperia line of phones and their new tablets to compete with I-Pad and I-Phone. But is the PlayStation store enough to compete? Sadly no, Apple's phones and tablets and MP3 players were not made hugely popular by games. But their is a very big bold move Sony could make that would effectively take Apple way out of their comfort zone and probably steal a huge share of the market from them.

But this move would mean uniting all of Sony's different branches together. Something that Sony rarely does, Sony's different branches operate largely independent of one another. Sony's film divisions work separate from Sony's music divisions and SCE independent of both. But with the tablets and smart phones Sony is taking PlayStation and utilizing it.

So what could Sony do to land a big blow on Apple and solidify their spot in the market. A share of the market that nobody could touch? We know that Sony Pictures and Sony Music both signed contracts with Apple but how binding are they? How long does Sony have to provide Apple with its movies and music?

Sony should do everything in its power to stop providing its music and movies to Apple. Create a Sony store for certified devices replacing the PS Store. Offer Sony's movies and music exclusively through that store and on Sony certified devices. Apple is largely successful due to i-Tunes its movies and music catalog that none of the competition can trump. But if Sony were to pull out of i-Tunes and offer Sony content exclusively to Sony products and Sony certified products. Suddenly Apple wouldn't be as powerful nor would they be as big of a threat.

It would essentially be BluRay all over again but on a much larger scale. Sony's film and music and game divisions working together to make Sony hardware successful. That would be a deadly blow to Apple, unlike Sony Apple doesn't make any movies and much music to my knowledge. Apple relies on third parties for content while Sony could very easily offer first party exclusive content on their products.

Also as we move towards smart TV's and products similar to that. Sony could use its movies,games and music to drive future entertainment products. The only downside is that by offering your content exclusively on your devices you are cutting off the markets of your competitors. So instead of 100 million customers you might get 45 million customers. But if the hardware sells at a profit and your music, movies and games all sell very well on your platforms it could even out.

Also Sony is the only company right now making tablets and smart phones that actually has a sufficient media empire. Nobody else has a movie division and music division and game division to create exclusive content. When you go shopping for a tablet would you buy a tablet with almost all of the major film and music companies. Or would you buy Sony's devices which had all of them and Sony?

Sony would have a hook none of their competitors have. Movies and music could be like a Nuke in Sony's hands a game changer that could forever solidify Sony's place in the smart phone and tablet markets. Sony is already working on their Netflix contract demanding more money among other demands.

Its time Sony stopped providing their direct competitors with their software, films and music. If it was all exclusive to Sony certified devices Sony would be in a much better position. Worst case scenario Apple goes after Universal or Disney or another big film company and tries to ink a deal for their films and music exclusively on i-Tunes. Problem is since none of the film companies and music companies benefit directly from hardware sales they will be far harder for Apple to attract. Not to mention if a war began Sony could make offers to convince other film and music companies from going exclusively with Apple.

Sony would have a hook a weapon that Apple would not. Sony could effectively control the outcome of the smart phone and tablet races.Is this a good idea for Sony? Or should Sony continue trying to compete with Apple while providing their competitor with all the movies and music their competitor is so successful because of?

This.

It'll work if Sony buy out Apple.

Nope... Sony can't afford it.. losing the sales of the itunes store would bring the company so much hurt... they can't afford to hope that millions and millions of users would suddenly switch.. cause they won't... not to mention to start negotiating with the other movie and record companies to get them into their store.. it's not like: "hey I have a digital store, put your stuff on it too" Apple spends years negotiating with the complex fee structure of the music industry.. If Sony would stop supplying the itunes store, people wouldn't go out and get Sony products.. they would move on, shrugging there shoulders thinking that's a lost sale for Sony..

Anyway Sony also doesn't have the hardware to go with their music and video store.. their phones sucks, seems to be always a half year too late with their specs, their tablets do shit saleswise.. let's not even start about their Walkman.. Sony has been past by many companies left and right.. Apple didn't have all the movie sudios and music studios at start.. it grew with the succes of their hardware not the other way around.. good luck trying to convince other companies to put their stuff in the Sony store with the sales they are having right now and convincing consumers to buy their products cause they have Ghostbusters and Men in Black exclusive.....

and yes I skimmed your post...

Well Sony did that with BluRay, though i must admit they supported BluRay from the beginning against HD-DVD.

Yes it would be a blow in the short term. However Sony would control the market and Sony's devices while they have much smaller penetration would benefit strongly. Look Sony can't take Apple out or take a major share of the market without exclusive content. Apple simply has everything including Sony's content and selling your content on a competitors platform is not going to help you compete at all.

The move may seem suicidal but its Sonys best shot at actually taking Apple out. Not saying it is a move that would profit Sony in the short term. To be honest I don't know if Sony going after Apple is the best idea in the first place. But if they are going to try and take Apple down or take over a market share lead. Then they would need to take a drastic action like the one I mentioned.

Also within a few years Sony could definitly see a massive market share. Not to mention you forget I never said ditch Android. I said Apple and to my knowledge Sony is currently supporting Android devices not made by Sony. Android also has a larger market share in Smart Phones then Apple does and a large share of tablet devices as well.

Look admittedly i-Tunes does apparently have 70% of the music market share. That is a very huge market share to give up. However the loss of Sony would do serious damage to Apple's market share. Yah I know a lot of i product owners wouldn't rush to buy Sony products and ditch their existing i devices. But any consumer looking at buying an i device in the future would be far less likely to do so.

Sony could work this like BluRay and crush Apple (HD-DVD) with over whelming force. It would definatly do damage to Sony in the short term but if Sony succeeded in taking down Apple they would likely recover.

Also Sony has recently mentioned they were thinking of pulling out of i-Tunes. The fact that they have already been thinking of such a move suggests that they aren't likely as dependant on i-Tunes as you may think. I haven't seen direct figures as to how much i-Tunes sales have contributed to Sony's profits. So don't take what I say 100% However Sony is in the best position it will be in to take down Apple. The fact that Sony has already thought about seperating means that it is feasable.

Again I wasn't talking about Sony turning the companies finances around. This topic was not about Sony bringing in tons of profit because if that were the case I am unsure whether it is smart to take on Apple at all. But if Sony is to take on Apple they can't afford to maintain the support they currently have for Apple's devices!

People talk about money has the biggest reason why Sony is in a difficult situation, I think Sony´s biggest flaw is communication/connection between divisions.

Sony has exclusive content in all fronts, they do smartphones, TV´s, consoles, and portable gaming devises, and from some reason, I can´t play Uncharted on my smartphone, arrive at home, connect my xperia with my TV, and keep playing on my TV with a PS controller or even the Vita.

Sony has the hardware, the exclusive content, but, unfortunately, they lack vision/software, IMO.

Sony needs to advertise the fact that all the Sony products connect, and that it actually have benefits if you have them. People that have a PS3 have no reason to game on a Sony TV, none (and they should if Sony was smart).
People that have a Sony TV, have no reason to buy a xperia, none (and they should if sony was smart).

The bright future about Sony, IMO, is portable devises. I think they will someday transform the portable gaming devise in a phone also. So you will have the xperia series (smartphone) and the PSP whatever (portable gaming devise with phone integration). I think in this specific side of business, I think the future is bright for them, because they will always have the GAMES, question is, do they continue to make the best hardware (they need to make better smartphones from a hardware perspective to compete with the big boys)

As to them tacking their products from itunes etc., that might be a risky move, a move that nowadays makes no sense, but when/if they actually strength the Sony brand in all fronts, I think they can do it.

If they do that right now they will lose a lot of money, because no one will buy their product because of that content. But if they start doing smartphone with cutting edge hardware, affordable TVs, then they should do it, and create extra value for the brand.

Right now, Sony is in all fronts, but in none of them, they are in a strong position (maybe only vita, we will see)

Apple had $76 bn in cash reserves last June, so they could buy Sony if they wanted.

I forgot to mention that NBC pulled out of iTunes in 2007... only to crawl back into Itunes 10 months later.. and Sony does have Music Unlimited in some selected countries in Europe).. but you probably never heard of it...

this sums it up pretty well.  sony is already struggeling, they would go bankrupt long before they could turn a profit following this plan.

I totally agree with Sony lack of vision for most of their markets.  They have pretty much dropped the ball in the TV, cellphone, music, etc... markets.  Where once they were the leader or near the top they are now either barely making any money or losing money. 

Are you suggesting the last paragraph that Sony just enable more options if you happen to buy all their products.  I understand this thinking (Apple) and it can be successful.  However, it could limit the consumer also which might lead to a non sale.  My line of thinking goes to the old Compaq that required Compaq parts to upgrade (during early 90s) or Apple which was pretty much the same way (not sure exactly how it is now since I stay away from them).  Anyways, it would be nice to offer the consumer more/ reward them but it could lead to some consumers being felt left out if they could only afford one product and not the other 2.  I am pretty much grasping at straws here but I thought I had some kind of point.  Basically, I don't want to be forced to buy shit just from one company.  If I want to upgrade my computer then I want to be able to buy from multiple manufacturers.  Anyways, most of my argument is void unless talking about computers.  If you have a fan base as loyal as Apple then you can pull whatever.  However, Sony's fan base isn't anywhere near Apple's.