How Sony Fell Behind

Hiroko Tabuchi, writing for the NYT:

The company still makes a confusing catalog of gadgets that overlap or even cannibalize one another. It has also continued to let its product lines mushroom: 10 different consumer-level camcorders and almost 30 different TVs, for instance, crowd and confuse consumers.

“Sony makes too many models, and for none of them can they say, ‘This contains our best, most cutting-edge technology,’” Mr. Sakito said. “Apple, on the other hand, makes one amazing phone in just two colors and says, ‘This is the best.’”

Focus is harder than it looks. I’ve seen Sony executives talking about Apple-style product-line focus for at least a decade, and they haven’t gotten any closer to replicating it.

★ Sunday, 15 April 2012