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[Canis lupus]

the whole article

The article discusses the past 10 years of Sony and the financial side of things.

It compares the market cap and liabilities of some of the biggest companies with Sony. Presents graphs on capital structure and equities. Quotes market insiders and shareholders, and explains the war inside Sony, engineers against executives.


Here's the final thoughts:

Is Hiroko Tabuci correct in his Wall Street Journal article about Sony’s engineers having too much power and control over Sony’s product lines? He is correct, but Sony’s executives should always take more accountability/responsibility for the company’s actions more than anyone else. When Howard Stringer was in office, all he did was blame earthquakes and the fall of the yen/dollar/euro, instead of admitting that Sony released products that weren’t major hits. The fact remains that Sony’s executives make a lot of excuses, they poorly communicate with their engineers, and this causes disorganization and confusion within the company. A great example would be when Sony’s PlayStation network was hacked by Lulzsec. Sony was more concerned about hiring lawyers and getting their insurance company to pay for the damage, than getting their engineers to fix the problem in a swift and efficient manner.

Because there is a lack of communication between the branches of Sony, Sony’s product line has no real identity right now. Every division and branch is made up of people who are doing their own thing, and not caring about what the rest of Sony is doing. That’s why the only thing that comes to a consumer’s mind about Sony products right now is, “Oh yeah. That’s the company that makes stuff I can’t afford unless I get multiple jobs. They put out $600 game consoles at launch, and $40,000 4K resolution televisions“. Sony is stuck. Everyone expects amazing quality and technological leaps from Sony products, but most people don’t have the money to buy them due to economical reasons. If Sony changed their strategy and started manufacturing cheap products, it would go against everything that the Sony brand stands for.

Sony is an example of a company that has become so large that they’ve lost focus of their main priorities. This is also a company that thinks they can afford tons of failures as long as they have a few successes along the way. But at what cost? At what cost can you keep launching products that don’t make a profit until the third or fourth year that it is released? At what cost can you keep launching failed proprietary formats like the UMD, or failed peripherals like PlayStation Move?

Sony releases brilliant products time from time. I am especially a big fan of their PlayStation brand. But Sony is not the Sony of the 90′s. Sony is not today’s Apple. Sony is not today’s Samsung. Sony is not today’s Microsoft.

It won’t be easy for Sony to return to their glory days after ten years of negative trends.

 

[justjohn]

Sony still keeping faith in Howard Stringer despite his incompetence is still one of the most baffling corporate decisions ive seen in quite a while. i know they have no money, but surely they could afford his severance payment?

 

[Derrick01]

Reading that the engineers control things baffle me as an American. If that happened over here and they refused to do things their bosses ordered their asses would be out on the street. Where are Kaz's balls? You may have to fire really skilled people who have been there for a long time but if they're killing your company because their attitude is that cancerous then they have to go man.

As a gamer it's really sad to see them fall so hard because they still have the most pro-gamer thinking of the 3 console makers. While MS and Nintendo trip over each other to see who can sell out to casuals harder, Sony always thought they could appeal to both and they used to succeed with that. Do people here really doubt Sony's troubles? Just use the eye test. When you think of TVs do you still think Sony? Movies? Games? Games may be where they're probably the healthiest still and they still have a last place console that is always thought of last by developers and they have a handheld that will be dead within a year or two. Just sad all around.

 

[Imbarkus]

If Sony falls a new competitor will rise.

 

[injurai]

If Sony falls a new competitor will rise.

If the PS4 never comes, or sony dies I'm forever moving to PC.

 

[ScreenSplitter]

Wha? Weren't Sony in the height of the PS2 back in 2002?

 

[Syphon Filter]

If Sony falls a new competitor will rise.

if they do i rather not have another competitor.

 

[danwarb]

If Sony falls a new competitor will rise.

Samsung will start making consoles. They should team up with whatever's left of SEGA and build Dreamcast 2.

 

[Derrick01]

If Sony falls a new competitor will rise.

But will it be another competitor to fill the pro-gamer void that Sony's death will cause? Or it will be someone like Apple who will make things even worse for us?

 

[SniperHunter]

Reading that the engineers control things baffle me as an American. If that happened over here and they refused to do things their bosses ordered their asses would be out on the street. Where are Kaz's balls? You may have to fire really skilled people who have been there for a long time but if they're killing your company because their attitude is that cancerous then they have to go man.

As a gamer it's really sad to see them fall so hard because they still have the most pro-gamer thinking of the 3 console makers. While MS and Nintendo trip over each other to see who can sell out to casuals harder, Sony always thought they could appeal to both and they used to succeed with that. Do people here really doubt Sony's troubles? Just use the eye test. When you think of TVs do you still think Sony? Movies? Games? Games may be where they're probably the healthiest still and they still have a last place console that is always thought of last by developers and they have a handheld that will be dead within a year or two. Just sad all around.

. this is a great post, my thoughts exactly.

 

[Vitacat]

Honestly, I can't be bothered to give a shit.

I love Sony products -- my Vita is the best handheld gaming hardware I ever owned.

But there's nothing I can do as a gamer/consumer that will help Sony or any other company to do well financially. I say good luck to them, and I hope they can persevere and overcome, because I really love my Sony games.

Now, if you're someone in a position to somehow make a difference with Sony, go ahead and care about all this -- I won't waste a moment of my time worrying about it. Because it won't make a difference if I do or not. And that's true for 99.999% of people on these forums.

 

[FishyJoe]

If Sony falls a new competitor will rise.

Apple and Samsung wave Hi!

 

[z0m3le]

The article is very well sourced BTW, She put a lot of work into this one. I hope most of you are clicking on the source, I also hope Sony can organize themselves before it's too late.

 

[gadwn]

"...or failed peripherals like PlayStation Move?"

Uhm, wouldn't really call 10+ millions sold controllers a failure. Don't think they lost money on that one...

 

[SniperHunter]

Honestly, I can't be bothered to give a shit.

I love Sony products -- my Vita is the best handheld gaming hardware I ever owned.

But there's nothing I can do as a gamer/consumer that will help Sony or any other company to do well financially. I say good luck to them, and I hope they can persevere and overcome, because I really love my Sony games.

Now, if you're someone in a position to somehow make a difference with Sony, go ahead and care about all this -- on't waste a moment of my time worrying about it. Because it won't make a difference if I do or not. And that's true for 99.999% of people on these forums.

Agreed! Some really good posts here already.

I also agree with Derrick about someone like Apple replacing Sony...

 

[Radec]

As long as Sony is releasing great games and hardware in the Gaming Department, AND doing great as well in the Camera Department, that is all I care.

And to think that they did all that while in a huge decline? Fuck the charts. Imagine what they'll do when they are not suffering in the TV and Phone department.

PS. I just bought Vita 2 weeks ago and it is ridiculously a great hardware in every way.

 

[Syphon Filter]

Honestly, I can't be bothered to give a shit.

I love Sony products -- my Vita is the best handheld gaming hardware I ever owned.

But there's nothing I can do as a gamer/consumer that will help Sony or any other company to do well financially. I say good luck to them, and I hope they can persevere and overcome, because I really love my Sony games.

Now, if you're someone in a position to somehow make a difference
with Sony, go ahead and care about all this -- I won't waste a moment
of my time worrying about it. Because it won't make a difference if I
do or not. And that's true for 99.999% of people on these forums.

if you love sony like you do then you should care.if they go out of business then how will you buy their products ?

 

[Metalmurphy]

No where to go but up now.


Common Kaz, get on it!

 

[Kouriozan]

That was an interesting read, I wish good luck for Sony to recover from this.

 

[omonimo]

Question: what we have to discuss here? :/ I missing the point... how sony going bad & if ps4 will never coming? Ok, well I just suppose ps4 will coming at the end, I hardly doubt ps4 will fail if sony has learned the lesson, probably next generation will be exaclty like the last, a head to head without a clear winner with microsoft & sony but I suppose this time sony will have more profit... end of the story for me. But could be sony will fail too, who know, realistically talking the more probable to me it's what I have supposed. About sony decline the part of the engineers freedom, well, I don't think it's exactly right...

 

[solarus]

The fear of a possible incoming fall of sony makes me fear for my digital purchases off of psn

 

[ScreenSplitter]

"...or failed peripherals like PlayStation Move?"

Uhm, wouldn't really call 10+ millions sold controllers a failure. Don't think they lost money on that one...

'ped. Not sold.

 

[Metalmurphy]

'ped. Not sold.

Shipped to retailers = money in Sonys bank.

 

[soultron]

if you love sony like you do then you should care.if they go out of business then how will you buy their products ?

It's not any one user's problem.

I hope this is the end of bullshit proprietary media/formats from Sony. If Sony ever thinks that's a good idea ever again, I'm done.

 

[Man]

If they drop out of hardware I still hope they keep their studios going ( they are huge content providers in music and film after all ).

 

[Vitacat]

if you love sony like you do then you should care.if they go out of business then how will you buy their products ?

Explain exactly HOW my worrying, or anyone else's worrying, will change anything, then we'll talk. Honestly, you can't.

Trust me, go play some games, enjoy time with family etc. Let these companies sort their crap, or go under. Neither you nor I can change what happens.

 

[FishyJoe]

"...or failed peripherals like PlayStation Move?"

Uhm, wouldn't really call 10+ millions sold controllers a failure. Don't think they lost money on that one...

They wasted a lot of resources not to mention spending lots of money on marketing and development. I certainly wouldn't be surprised if they lost money when you add up all the costs.

 

[Syphon Filter]

It's not any one user's problem.

I hope this is the end of bullshit proprietary media/formats from Sony. If Sony ever thinks that's a good idea ever again, I'm done.

i understand that but he/she seems to love sony products so this will effect him/her.

 

[soultron]

Explain exactly HOW my worrying, or anyone else's worrying, will change anything, then we'll talk. Honestly, you can't.

Trust me, go play some games, enjoy time with family etc. Let these companies sort their crap, or go under. Neither you nor I can change what happens.

Exactly. And no one should feel like it's their job as a consumer to save this company by pissing into the wind and buying a few more PS3 games this month.

It's the same for any company; Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony, Apple, and so forth.

i understand that but he/she seems to love sony products so this will effect him/her.

I'm sure that poster will be fine. There are plenty of ways to consumer entertainment with other platforms/delivery methods.

 

[Derrick01]

if you love sony like you do then you should care.if they go out of business then how will you buy their products ?

Vitacat's right though. Nothing would depress me more in gaming than Sony dying, but what the hell can I do? I can't donate $100 billion to them, and even if I could their moronic decisions would probably blow right through it.

The fear of a possible incoming fall of sony makes me fear for my digital purchases off of psn

Most rumors for PS4 point to them getting rid of Cell and switching GPU companies, in that case your digital purchases would likely not work on PS4 anyway.

 

[Syphon Filter]

Explain exactly HOW my worrying, or anyone else's worrying, will change anything, then we'll talk. Honestly, you can't.

Trust me, go play some games, enjoy time with family etc. Let these companies sort their crap, or go under. Neither you nor I can change what happens.

i know,i am not worried.

 

[RealDeadOne]

This is so sad to me. Sony is the one console manufacturer really trying to push technology for games, but it just doesn't pay off for them.

I see this as evidence that casual pandering was a great move for MS and Nintendo. Mass audiences don't care about tech, they get what's most affordable.

 

[CorrisD]

It would really suck if Sony left gaming, I too would probably move over to PC gaming more.

I mean I have all three consoles but I don't really want a console industry that on one end is MS with a higher end console, is happy to charge everyone for some basic features and would no doubt happily sacrifice their whole "core" audience for a good slice of the casual market. The other end is Nintendo who at this point will seemingly always be a generation behind with hardware, and while they have great first party games will always have lame 3rd party support and questionable online network.

Sony might make a ton of mistakes and their arrogance manages to surpass many, but to me they are the middle ground that I am happy with, they have plenty of good first party titles, are willing to take a leap of faith on a game and they have good third party support, their hardware is also pretty great while keeping things like multiplayer free.

 

[domlolz]

if you love sony like you do then you should care.if they go out of business then how will you buy their products ?

Why do you 'love' a multi-billion dollar international corporation?

 

[gadwn]

They wasted a lot of resources not to mention spending lots of money on marketing and development. I certainly wouldn't be surprised if they lost money when you add up all the costs.

True, but I have hard time the money spent haven't been earned back for that, those things are sold with a huge margin.

 

[Takao]

They wasted a lot of resources not to mention spending lots of money on marketing and development. I certainly wouldn't be surprised if they lost money when you add up all the costs.

There's no way they lost money on Move. Shu said they were making money on it since day 1.

 

[Syphon Filter]

Vitacat's right though. Nothing would depress me more in gaming than Sony dying, but what the hell can I do? I can't donate $100 billion to them, and even if I could their moronic decisions would probably blow right through it.



Most rumors for PS4 point to them getting rid of Cell and switching GPU companies, in that case your digital purchases would likely not work on PS4 anyway.

how come on pc they work even if you change cards?

 

[KillGore]

If the PS4 never comes, or sony dies I'm forever moving to PC.

Pretty much this. It'll be PC and Nintendo consoles.

 

[2MF]

Sony is the one console manufacturer really trying to push technology for games

And you say that after:

- Microsoft launched a console about as powerful as the PS3 in terms of CPU/GPU, one year earlier than Sony.
- Nintendo launched a console which actually used technology in a revolutionary way (which later was imitated by Sony and MS).

I don't see your point...

 

[Syphon Filter]

Why do you 'love' a multi-billion dollar international corporation?

i dont. i like competiton and their philosophy.

 

[Gaspode_T]

Uh Hiroko Tabuchi is a she (protip: majority of first names that end with "ko" are female)

 

[danwarb]

how come on pc they work even if you change cards?

Common API, direct3d or whatever. PC games aren't nearly as optimized for specific hardware.

 

[Derrick01]

how come on pc they work even if you change cards?

Someone more knowledgeable in tech would have to explain that. My guess would be that consoles are designed differently. Much like when people talk RAM there's always people explaining that 2gb of console RAM is a lot different than 2gb of PC RAM. I would think ditching the Cell would be the biggest cause of that happening because most ps3 and psn games are designed around that. I remember there being some uncertainty about some PSN games working because of how they were made, but any retail PS3 games you have on PSN would flat out not work. That naturally includes any physical disc games you have too.

 

[Syphon Filter]

Someone more knowledgeable in tech would have to explain that. My guess would be that consoles are designed differently. Much like when people talk RAM there's always people explaining that 2gb of console RAM is a lot different than 2gb of PC RAM. I would think ditching the Cell would be the biggest cause of that happening because most ps3 and psn games are designed around that. I remember there being some uncertainty about some PSN games working because of how they were made, but any retail PS3 games you have on PSN would flat out not work. That naturally includes any physical disc games you have too.

How come ps1 games work then?

 

[MikeE21286]

Great read. Thanks for posting. Kudos to Emliy Rogers for a great article.

Puts a lot in perspective about Sony as a company.

 

[soultron]

how come on pc they work even if you change cards?

IIRC, changing the CPU means that hardware emulation is more difficult, correct? Meaning software emulation or a port job would be necessary?

I apologise since I don't really know enough about this stuff.

 

[Tokubetsu]

Someone more knowledgeable in tech would have to explain that. My guess would be that consoles are designed differently. Much like when people talk RAM there's always people explaining that 2gb of console RAM is a lot different than 2gb of PC RAM. I would think ditching the Cell would be the biggest cause of that happening because most ps3 and psn games are designed around that. I remember there being some uncertainty about some PSN games working because of how they were made, but any retail PS3 games you have on PSN would flat out not work. That naturally includes any physical disc games you have too.

Someone more knowledgeable can probably correct me but I think it has something to do with console tech being more dedicated vs PC tech which has to run a ful OS etc etc on top of whatever else you want to do. Cell and that unique architecture fucking up da game.

 

[Htown]

Holy crap:

Electronic Arts Total Liabilities: $2.27 Billion
Google’s Total Liabilities: $21.33 Billion
Apple’s Total Liabilities: $51.15 Billion
Microsoft’s Total Liabilities: $54.91 Billion
Sony’s Total Liabilities: $135.61 Billion

Sony has more total liabilities than Microsoft, Apple, Google, and Electronic Arts combined.

 

[Canis lupus]

Google’s Total Assets: $86.05 Billion
Apple’s Total Assets: $162.90 Billion
Microsoft’s Total Assets: $121.27 Billion
Sony’s Total Assets: $166.22 Billion

Its astounding that Sony has more assets than the big companies out there.

 

[luxarific]

That is a great (albeit depressing) article. I knew they were in trouble, but I didn't know how much trouble.

I hope they manage to pull their asses out of the fire. There are a lot of Sony exclusives that I would hate to see disappear. And their cameras are great.