lol actually it is Music Unlimited that sparked this thread to begin with. As the service was ramping up their was leaks from Sony and apparently Sony was musing over leaving i-Tunes to make Music Unlimited the exclusive source for Sony. Its the fact that Sony was actually contemplating the move already that I came to the conclusion it would have a devastating effect on Apple and Sony could benefit in the long run.

As for NBC, to my knowledge they do not have hardware to sell their content on. Sure they can sell on Android but they don't have all that much of an alternative Sony is in a drastically different position. Though as some pointed out Sony's hardware needs to be improved as well for Sony to fully take advantage of any exclusive content.

Now Apple claims to have control of 70% of the downloadable music market. However the same research from NPD suggested Apple only controlled 28% of the over all music industry. A move losing that market share would definitely hit Sony but if it made profitable hardware that was of competitive quality and offered its music and movies on all other platforms for the time being they would hit Apple hard. Then after hitting Apple hard Sony could slowly transition to exclusively supporting their hardware eventually ditching Android products that aren['t produced by Sony.

As it stands Apple has a monopoly if Sony has any chance of competing they need to take away vital content. As for those suggesting Apple could take over Sony at the drop of a hat. Not going to happen for many reasons, A. According to Wikipedia Sony's assets are worth over 150-billion USD even if Sony is losing some money annually Apple couldn't take the company over. B. Japan, the Japanese Government would not likely allow an American company to take over Sony.C. Sony employs almost 3x the amount of employees Apple does a take over would mean boosting Apple's operating costs so drastically its not funny.

Apple may have more disposable income then Sony, but their assets aren't worth nearly as much about 40 billion USD less then Sony. Any attempt to take over Sony by Apple would be suicide. If you think Sony leaving Apple is suicide then Apple buying Sony would be as likely surviving flying into the sun!

Why would I buy a Sony tablet/phone while all my freinds have iPhone/iPad? The social acpect is always big factor for the whole iDevice phenomenom.

 You say no Sony music or movies would be on iDevices? Would I even notice? The primary selling point of your proposal is the exclusive Sony contents but how much effect would it have? That didn't make the gaming division a runaway success. Not sure if Sony exclusive movies and music would have a bigger impact. 

The comparison to BD HD format war is a flawed one. BD was fighting with HD-DVD to be the dominate format of HD media and there was no clear winner. Right now Sony has an uphill battle again Apple and iTune. With Sony's stock at 24 year low, they simply can't afford to lose billions of dollars like how they ensure Bd to win the HD format war. It is also not likely they can outbid Apple on paying other studio/record company for exclusive contents. Even a timely exclusive content (say 30 days period before titles can be released on Sony platform) would have a much bigger impace than the complete Sony exclusive content on Sony devices since iTune is the market leader.

Speaking of Sony, Apple, and music, Sony just put out an incredibly well-made Jimi Hendrix app for iPad. Wonderfully responsive UI, silky animations, and a level of iTunes and AirPlay integration that I didn't know was possible. If I had to pick a nit, it's that the screen is locked to landscape orientation, but everything else about it makes me really want to buy some Hendrix and see more such music apps in the future.

If you have an iPad and any interest in classic rock at all, you should check it out.

Um....Android allready has a larger market share then Apple. Best kept secret out there that somehow everybody doesnt know about.

Samsung isnt too far behind either.

Sony is bleeding too much money to do anything meaningful right now.

What a laughable OP, seriously. Good at talking without actually saying anything.

Kowen's summed it up nicely ...

The fact that SONY makes "Breaking Bad" is enough to make me notice, lol.

SONY makes plenty of top rated TV shows along with their movies. They actually make A LOT of media.

AHAHA!

Are Sony movies really that much of a selling point? I can't name any blockbusters from Sony.
Anyway what you said COULD work but they would need to wait until their install base for playstation certified tablets/phones are large enough. But if they continue to offer their music and movies on iTunes what would be the reason to buy a PS certified product? This is a tough decision.

I can see them dominating the games store though. You'll eventually be able to buy PSP games and play them on tablets/phones that are PS certified. Eventually Vita games will be available as well. This would be a huge selling point.

Exactly, and to all those saying well Sony would lose billions and it would be an uphill battle at a 24 year low they shouldn't be trying it. Your right but if that's the case why is Sony spending billions trying to take on Apple in the first place. Cell phones are one thing but going into tablets and such its clear that Sony wants some of Apple's pie.

They are already risking a ton and their is no point in throwing billions of dollars at a product without putting all your muscle behind it. I said this was a way for Sony to compete not for Sony to get out of debt. Obviously Sony is more worried about competing at the moment.

Going after Apple is going to lose Sony billions regardless. Sony doesn't have a chance at taking on Apple without offering something Apple doesn't have. Offering PlayStation games is a start but with such a huge music and film library why would Sony allow that to remain on their competitors devices?

Some would say Sony should keep it on Apple platforms because it makes them money and they will lose money if they don't. But what about Sony's hardware divisions which stand to lose a fortune if they fail to compete with Apple. Also for those of you saying Android is the big guy, firstly doesn't Sony's phones use Android? Secondly the market share of downloads like movies, music and games is still dominated by Apple, thirdly Android doesn't control the tablet market to my knowledge.

Sony going after Apple is very ambitious and going to be very costly, it could pay off big if they succeed in competing and rivaling their hardware and downloadable content sales. But that is a very long ways away and if Sony doesn't have a shit ton of exclusive content its even less likely to ever happen.

   This. Also, make the devices more sexy physically. Many times, just taking a look at something, one can want one before they even know what exactly it can/can't do.