Sony is not as iconic because they did not helped the industry like nintendo did with the NES, but the PS brand has been more relevant to the industry than nintendo since the PS2 era.

Lol! It's good that you aren't going to argue with him, because you would have lost. You're not even arguing about the correct topic! You basically walked away from the argument because you think he's only arguing with you because he's a Nintendo fan. This is clearly not the case, however. He's arguing with you because you're confused.

Lol. Not even a chance.

People. You are arguing. The. Wrong. Thing. We are not talking not about current relevancy. We are talking about the word "iconic". If you don't know what it means, look it up.

Super Mario is bigger and more known around the world than Sony and the Playstation brand combined.

Iconic is more about your standing in popular culture not on current/recent popularity.

One Direction can have five more hit records. It doesn't matter. They will never be as iconic as The Beatles.

Justin Bieber can have five more hit records too. He will never be the icon that Elvis Presley or Michael Jackson were.

Today's kids may recognize Ella from Frozen or whatever moreso, but that doesn't make those characters as iconic overall as Mickey Mouse.

Red Bull might be a mega brand today, but it isn't as iconic as Coca-Cola.

Pac-Man is more iconic than the characters from Assassin's Creed. 

Etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.

I know grandmas who can recognize Super Mario. But good luck finding a grandma that says "oh yeah, that's Kratos from God of War", lol. Sony is very good at following current market trends in the game business, but that's not the same thing as creating iconic characters/brands. 

Nintendo has the most iconic characters considering those characters have been around from multiple generations which don't necessarily means that nintendo is the most popular gaming brand as of today. they need to do a lot of work to get back to where they were back in the 80-90's.

Icons also change over time though, there are movies that came out when I was little that were perhaps nothing more than a success back then but that have turned iconic over the years.
Like I said in my opening post though; from an objective point of view, it depends on who you're asking and often how old they are.

Movie stars like Ingrid Bergman and James Dean aren't really iconic for me and most people my age, Jack Nicholson and Helen Mirren are, but they likely won't be for my children and/or grandchildren etc.

Odds are that smaller children will cite something like Angry Birds, Candy Crush or similar things if you ask them about games and gaming.

I feel like Sony is MUCH more popular nowadays. Playstation is today what Nintendo used to be in the past.
As a Nintendo fan I unfortunately have to say Sony has overtook Nintendo already 10 years ago when PS2 had been ultimatively successful compared to its "competitors".

Those same kids still know Super Mario ... will kids 10-15 years from now know/care about Angry Birds? Doubt it. 

Ingrid Bergman ok ... but is Marilyn Monroe still iconic? Kim Kardashian can do hundred different sex tapes, she'll never be the icon Marilyn Monroe is. 

Some things are just iconic. Michael Jackson. Charlie Chaplin. Mickey Mouse. Coca-Cola. Marilyn Monroe. Elvis Presley. Star Wars. The Beatles. And yes, Super Mario. 

It's the reason why things like the passing of Mr. Iwata got coverage on things like CNN and Time Magazine ... even if Nintendo isn't doing so hot at this moment, Nintendo's brands are iconic, therefor the passing of its president is news worthy because everyone knows "Nintendo creator of the Super Mario series". 

Nintendo may fuck up a lot of things, but there's zero question the brand is iconic. If the president of SCEA passed away, I don't think it would get global media coverage.