TV’s are a part of every day life, if you look in any household you will find at least one TV set, more often than not, one TV set is only scratching the surface and you will find one in almost every room. The problem however is no matter how many TV’s consumers buy, it is almost certainly not benefiting the manufacturer, and no one knows this more than Sony.
For the last decade Sony’s TV department has been a Thorn in the companies side contributing to an estimated $1 billion loss that is due to be announced in March.
The reason for the decline in TV sales and prices is the fact that manufacturers are struggling to differentiate between each others TV sets, due to this customers are buying the cheapest of the cheap.
So what is the future of the TV, with 3D struggling to take of Smart TV’s are doing slightly better. But it is still not improving the viewing experience in a way that will boost the sales and help the struggling TV companies. It has been widely publicized that Apple have been working on their own TV set that will be powered by Siri (the voice control service). Sony are not going to go down without fight and CEO Howard Stringer has revealed that the company have been working on a type of TV to combat and resolve the companies crippling losses, as well as adding some innovation to the TV market.
Welsh-born Stringer told the Wall Street Journal that Sony “can’t continue to make TV sets in the way we have been” and admitted that “every TV set we make loses money”.
Without saying too much, the under-fire chief executive told the newspaper, “There’s a tremendous amount of R&D going into a different kind of TV set.”
The connected TV device is likely to slot into Sony’s new “four screen” strategy, which involves integrating smartphones, tablets, PCs and television sets.
Stringer has said the aim has always been to provide a platform to Rival Apple. “You have bad years. The trick is to weather them, learn from them, act graciously through them, and learn why and when you have to change.”
He added: “I spent the last five years building a platform so I can compete against Steve Jobs. It’s finished, and it’s launching now.”
He later said that there was “no doubt” Apple was working on a TV set, so it may be that Sony is looking to out-innovate and beat Cupertino to the punch.
Would you buy a innovative new sony TV, or will you hold out for Apples first step into the TV market?
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