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[Jubenhimer]

Sony and Microsoft are currently two of the biggest platform makers in the video game industry with their PlayStation and Xbox brands. While the industry used to be dominated by games-only companies with arcade roots (Sega, Nintendo, Atari, NEC, etc.) Sony threw its hat into the ring with the original PlayStation in the mid-90s on the heels of the infamous SNES CD fallout with Nintendo. Then in the early 2000s, Microsoft entered the arena with the Xbox when the PlayStation 2 posed a threat to PC gaming.

But before entering the video game business, Sony and Microsoft were already massive tech giants dominating other market sectors. Sony was already a leading consumer electronics company and media conglomerate known for its Walkman and Discman portable music players, Camcorders, Home Entertainment decks, and having Movie and Music divisions with Sony Music and Sony Pictures. Microsoft dominated the PC world with Windows being the standard operating system, and already had experience with hardware development in the 90s with their PC accessories.

But Sony struck gold when it started up a new subsidiary (Sony Computer Entertainment) to venture into the gaming business with the PlayStation. The PlayStation ended up being one of the most disruptive products to hit the market and soon, SCE/PlayStation became Sony's most profitable division. But as PlayStation grew, Sony's other businesses slowly began to whither. The Walkman line was showing its age in the rising era of MP3 players, and Sony struggled to catch up to the market, especially once Apple completely revolutionized mobile audio with the iPod. Meanwhile, it's other product lines began being out shined by other consumer electronics companies, and Sony's insistence on pushing their own in-house formats (Mini Disc, ATRAC, Memory Stick, UMD) over more widely adopted standards wasn't helping.

Microsoft meanwhile had to contend with its rapidly growing corporate portfolio post-Bill Gates. While Xbox was starting to become a household name, the company's other ventures such as Windows either crumbled with poorly received versions (Windows Vista) and entries into new markets like its ill-fated iPod competitor the Zune costing them billions in losses. It's bid to dominate the smartphone market with Windows Phone failed spectacularly, and the company saw it bleeding PC users with the failures of Windows Vista and Windows 8, who migrated to Mac.

Basically, I think it all comes down to the question of whether these two entering the video game market caused them to be left behind in the other markets they excelled at. I mean, all Sony is basically known for now is PlayStation and Spider-Man movies. I don't think most people today care that the Walkman still exists.

 

[Crayon]

Sony is not a massive tech giant. You can count those on one hand. PS is a core pillar of sony's business now. In comparison, xbox looks like a pet project to the size of ms. You are saying sony neglected the walkman because of playstation? Focusing on xbox caused windows to crumble?? idk, man.

 

[kazuyamishima]

I think Sony is a little bit more than just PS, image sensors, financial services, they even entered the EV market a few years ago. But PS is about 30% of the whole Sony, meanwhile Xbox is small compared to other MS ventures.

 

[Ecotic]

Microsoft in the 2000's specifically struggled due to Steve Jobs' incredible vision and Steve Ballmer's lack of it, and not really due to the Xbox which was probably treated as an ancillary concern within the company.

Well maybe struggle is the wrong word, but they were stagnant while Apple, Google, and Facebook rose.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

You don't stay on top forever.

PlayStation is huge as gaming company, but are overtaken by others that operate in mobile market.

Markets do change over time.

 

[Zathalus]

Microsoft is doing extremely well in it's core markets, better then they have ever been. Being the second largest company in the world by market cap and one of the largest by operating income is kind of proof of that.

Sony on the other hand is not nearly as strong outside of the gaming space as they used to be. Still good products though.

 

[Hudo]

One could make an argument that Microsoft sees Xbox as a supporting product for their cloud and services division (which is their most important and most profitable part of the company). Meanwhile, Playstation appear to chase the "big block buster, big money" business model of Hollywood. Although their recent numbers clearly show that they make the biggest chunk of their profits also from digital services as well.
Steam is one of the biggest gaming platforms, arguably bigger than Playstation from a user-base point of view. And Nintendo is at least on par as a platform with the other two. The whole market is in an interesting situation, in my opinion. There are no clear-cut leaders. Every big platform holder has its own problems that need to be solved if they want to stay relevant. Will be interesting to see how they're gonna go about solving them (or fail to do so).

 

[Jubenhimer]

Microsoft is doing extremely well in it's core markets, better then they have ever been. Being the second largest company in the world by market cap and one of the largest by operating income is kind of proof of that.

It's easy to say Microsoft has dramatically upped its game in its other product lines in recent times. But it does feel like during the late 2000s, the only brand from Microsoft that had any positive momentum was Xbox. Everybody hated Windows Vista, and the Zune was a rushed-product that felt too little too late.

 

[Robb]

No, I don’t think that’s the case personally.

 

[UltimaKilo]

No. Xbox is a very small component of Microsoft and Microsoft are at an all time high.

Sony makes excellent televisions, produces tons of records and films, it among the top of the home audio business...

OP, you should have just googled how strong these companies are... Look a Microsoft's Market Cap lol

 

[Ultra Donny]

As a photographer I would say that Sony is killing it with the Camera department. A7 series, absolut top shelf stuff and one of the big players.

 

[Drew1440]

I know Sony has lost a lot of the consumer electronics market to Korean rivals like Sansung and LG, who are able to undercut Sony in terms of value and production. This isn't exclusive to just Sony. Panasonic, Toshiba, Hitachi and Sharp have all had the same decline and have had to branch into different markets.
This might also change as Chinese brands become more commonplace with HiSense and TCL becoming more common.

PlayStation has probably kept Sony afloat in these past years, even when you consider the initial loss of the PS3.

 

[Mr.Phoenix]

Sony is as good as they have ever been. They just operate in a very different market now than in say... the 90s. But even now, if you are within the right circles, of the electronics sony does make, are some of the most coveted hardware in their respective fields. Its not their fault that now the average consumer is fine with good enough and not about having the best anymore. Their Music and Video/Video production businesses are also doing just as fine as always.

As for MS, Xbox is a pet project for them compared to their core business. I can't remember which thraed I said it in, but to paraphrase what I said, the money Xbox is using to buy Bethesda and Activision, is more money in video game profits than Sony and Nintendo have made for the last 4 years.... combined.

 

[Damigos]

OP cant understand what a division in a company means. But its ok, i didnt either

 

[CGNoire]

Sony is not a massive tech giant.

There where in the 90s and early 00s for sure.

 

[Clear]

Sony had to pivot because of how the Japanese economy changed and the rise in competitiveness (especially in their core markets) of companies elsewhere in the Asia Pacific. Their TV business was highly regarded and profitable for example until South Korean manufacturers like Samsung and LG overtook them globally.

 

[Pelta88]

There's a lot of half-truths and misrepresentations. I get the point you're trying to make but facts matter...

 

[RoboFu]

The progress of tech really hurt Sony in a lot of areas which why they were struggling a while back. Music and movie players, physical media for music and movies basically went away. Tvs got cheaper to make so alot of new players entered that market. They had a long string of failed movies. Video cameras and the like also disappeared. A lot went south for sony very quickly, but these would have happened no matter what. Video games is what kept them a float.


MS is still raking in the enterprise money on pc. They have kept up a lot in that market since Xbox was founded.

Sony is as good as they have ever been. They just operate in a very different market now than in say... the 90s. But even now, if you are within the right circles, of the electronics sony does make, are some of the most coveted hardware in their respective fields. Its not their fault that now the average consumer is fine with good enough and not about having the best anymore. Their Music and Video/Video production businesses are also doing just as fine as always.

As for MS, Xbox is a pet project for them compared to their core business. I can't remember which thraed I said it in, but to paraphrase what I said, the money Xbox is using to buy Bethesda and Activision, is more money in video game profits than Sony and Nintendo have made for the last 4 years.... combined.

what!!??.. no Sony lost a lot and it almost crashed them. I don’t see how you can say they are better than ever been.

 

[jroc74]

Sony has always been a consumer electronics and entertainment company. They had stumbles here n there over the years.....but I think they are still in a good spot. Music, TV, movies, electronics.

As for MS...Imagine thinking MS is left behind in their most dominate markets, lmao..

Yeah MS exited the smartphone hardware market...but they still dominate in their more important areas, PC.

 

[mxbison]

Yes. Apart from being installed on like 99% of PC's in the world you really don't see much of Microsoft software business anymore.

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

Sony's other consumer electronic businesses haven't really diminished in the wake of PS (outside of their Vaio laptops that they sold off). Their image sensor business is bigger than ever, and their music, movie and TV entertainment businesses will always be hit and miss due to the hit and miss nature of those industries.

MS is basically office and Azure. Xbox is such a tiny piece that it's virtually irrelevant to the larger company.

Your take is quite ignorant, OP. You should have done at least a little research before posting something as fact that's based on nothing but feelings and perception.

 

[Dream-Knife]

I will say 2 things: the zune was much better than the ipod, and Sony's mp3 players were quite good until recently when they just started shipping cheap android phones.

Quality from both companies have been in decline for at least the last decade.

 

[Hudo]

I will say 2 things: the zune was much better than the ipod, and Sony's mp3 players were quite good until recently when they just started shipping cheap android phones.

Quality from both companies have been in decline for at least the last decade.

Also, shoutout to the Windows Phone UI. Was the best mobile UI at the time, imho.

 

[jayj]

Well definitely not Microsoft, they are just as big and dominant as ever outside of the gaming scene. As for Sony however, they have really lost a lot of presence and dominance in a lot of areas. Their TV division seems to be doing very well, and their audio seems to be doing fine, but they have really fallen off in a lot of areas where they used to have a big presence. It's also a much bigger deal to them, the whole consumer products market, because unlike Microsoft they basically specialized in consumer electronics sales. That and I think it's pretty much already been proven how Playstation has become their lifeblood, they need it to be successful in order to maintain their business. As for Microsoft, they could fold Xbox and it would hardly effect them at all. If anything Xbox has just been a fun little side project for them.

Getting into media things can get a bit more complicated though. Sony has a foothold in music and movies, while Microsoft has loads of software presence.