Brian T Castagna
Wilmington University
BBM 402
Sony Case Study

1. Sony had been so successful in the past with the Walkman, Playstation, and other electronics because they were innovative and new for their time. They helped reshape the music and gaming industry as we know it today. Without such developments, technology might not be where it is today. Sony’s competition was also vastly different. At the time of the Walkman, there were no other major competitors and the purchase of CBS Records only furthered their stronghold on the industry. Sony’s product quality was also superior, as they were known world-wide for producing electronics of the highest design.

2. Mr. Idei stated that the integration of the divisions across the global market proved to be quite challenging, but yielded excellent lessons for future mergers. He said that he would have preferred a “soft acquisition” rather than a hard one, and in saying this, I believe he means that in order to successfully integrate new divisions in new markets, a strategic alliance would suit the company better than a straight merger. This way, the company will be able to assess the major differences in the different markets, while not sacrificing production. Mr. Idei noted that there are advantages and disadvantages of this strategy, but I believe the strategic alliance approach works best in the long run as you’ll have two strong companies, who have a strong knowledge on their current markets, working together to achieve the same goals.

3. Apple succeeded in the digital portable music industry because it took Sony’s principle of innovation and used it to its advantage. iTunes sparked a completely unique and convenient way for consumers to obtain music without leaving their home, and with the iPod the only accessible device to it, users were forced to buy an iPod to reap the benefits. Sony seemed to be fixated on the anti-piracy aspect of digital music and their fight stalled any attempts to gain leverage on Apple and other companies. Sony has a lot invested in the music industry, so their fight was valid, but it allowed a company like Apple to gain a large market share by offering a 100% legal way of obtaining music digitally. Sony proved to be somewhat negligent during this time and maybe relied too heavily on the past loyalty of consumers to dig themselves out the hole. It’s apparent that this technique did not help them.

4. Sony surely could have found a different way to approach the digital music industry, as well as find better ways to successfully integrate different divisions across the globe. Sony’s carelessness and unawareness to the rise of the internet allowed a company like Apple to develop Digital Rights Management to gain contracts to other major record labels to obtain rights to sell the music digitally and create a single device with compatibility. Sony needs to find aware to avoid the culture shock that comes along with major moves to different countries first and foremost. They’ll have to do more research on countries they plan on operating in in order to avoid a decrease in productivity. Additionally, Sony needs to go back to their roots when they were the most innovative of all electronics producers. Their research and development teams need to be sharper in order to uncover the next great potential device and roll with it.

5. At this point, it may be nearly impossible to compete with Apple (although I’m sure Apple felt the same way about Sony at one point). Rather than compete with Apple initially, Sony should branch out and focus on a certain market that does not have a stranglehold on, particularly the computing industry. Sony may want to make their computers/tablets/netbooks more affordable and attractive to buyers, considering they all run on a Microsoft operating system. If they begin manufacturing innovative computing, it may begin to bring buyers back from Apple. Apple’s products are notoriously expensive, but there are companies out there producing similar quality at lower prices. If Sony were to follow suit, the buyers could quickly return because people have not forgotten the quality of product Sony has historically produced.