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Microsoft Buyout of Ailing Sony Possible
imashoe writes "BonaFideReviews has published an interesting article stating that a Microsoft buyout of Sony is quite possible sometime in the not-so-far future. From the article: 'All this added up, you have to ask yourself. Will the next Playstation you purchase post-PS3 run a Microsoft operating system and have backwards compatibility for PS1 PS2 PS3 Xbox and Xbox360? Putting your rabid love for Sony aside, this doesn't seem as far fetched as it once did, when the Sony name wasn't covered in enough red tape to fill the Grand Canyon.'"
This would be a major anti-trust issue. Then Microsoft would own almost the entire console market.
It's true nintendo is around... but it is such a small share holder in the industry.
If Nintendo's "Revoltion" does well, this could happen, if not, i doubt it.
I am *not* a grammar Nazi.
But that article was horrible. 'Thrown' instead of 'throne', a bunch of they're/there mistakes. 'Hurtle'?
I am starting to see the advantages of the print media- at least they had editors.
No reason to lie.
Sony has held the all mighty hardware thrown for an astounding eleven years at the time of writing this.
I'm sorry, but with an error like that in the second sentence, I'm guessing the author is not an informed source and likely not an authority on predicting future console market trends.
Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, START
Acquisition isn't typically the way Microsoft operates. They prefer to license the key pieces of technology that they want, and they only do that when they think they won't get away with simply copying them.
GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
They make all kinds of stuff, including this new handheld digital recording gizmo our department bought for doing ethnographic interviews. It is totally fly and it fills a niche (midrange price/high quality) that we couldn't do otherwise because its competing devices are 10 grand.
If M$ buys the console part of Sony, so be it. But I doubt that even Microsoft can absorb something as big as Sony. Sure, they may have the cash on hand, but that is a really, really large operation.
Comparing it to Windows will be a moot point, since El Dorado is going to have a 40% larger code base than XP.
So Microsoft are going to buy Sony, which includes Televisions, DVD Players, Walkmans, their music label, their film label, PlayStation...
Even if this was true, I expect a purchase would be blocked by one or more governments.
Summation 2
The problem is that SONY isn't a software company, or a media company - they are a hardware (electronic device) company. They have alienated a lot of their customers with DRM crap and content controlls and have lost a lot of hardware sales because of it. So now the hardware side of the business is getting weaker, but the content side is getting stronger. Because of that, they will almost certinly impose more DRM crap, piss off more customers, kill more hardware sales and feed a vicious cycle that could kill the whole company.
An example of how they could get a clue and repair some of the damage they've done to their reputation. A slashdot article a week or so back suggested UMD (for Video) might be on its last legs. This would be a defeat for Sony but they can gain a lot of kudos and a lot sales if they did something when it went bye-bye. That thing is simple - uncripple the PSP. The PSP is already excellent at playing movies, but uncripple it so rippers can use the full display resolution. For extra points Sony could give away something akin to iTunes that helps people rip / convert music & clips but also buy titles online.
Sony has an enormous cultural hurdle to overcome for any buyer. Just ask the guys at BMG who get told to effectively mind their own business on the record label side of things. Having the cash to buy a piece of Sony is probably only 5% of the battle. The other 95% would be trying to integrate with a company who's management is very antagonistic to any outside "interference".
But they're not idiots. They simply wouldn't design a console with the intention of selling it for $500. All these prices that get thrown around ignore the fact there will be a massive volume discount - the PS3 will sell over 10 million units on pure inertia. The blue-ray players they use for comparison might sell into the hundreds of thousands if they're lucky.
First line:
Like many of you, it's hard for me to remember a time when the word "Playstation" was synonymous with gaming. Sony has held the all mighty hardware thrown for an astounding eleven years at the time of writing this.
I would have said it's hard to remember a time when the word playstation wasn't synonymous with gaming. After all, Sony has held the console throne for a fair time.
I'm not sure I agree that a buyout is on the cards myself. If Sony's only product was the playstation, maybe, but look at their financial highlights; gaming only represents 10% of their income. Would Microsoft want a record label, a film studio or a consumer electronics business?
Sony's market cap is $48 billion. Granted, Microsoft might be able to stretch to this, but why not spend a little more and buy Apple for $59 billion? Apple is in the computer industry, and has the iPod. Seems like a much better purchase to me.
Just my $0.02,
Michael
"Goodness me, how unlike the FBI to abuse the trust of the American public." -- The Onion
Contrary to the poster of this article seems to believe, Sony makes more than just Playstations. There's Sony Records and Sony Pictures, but then they also make monitors, laptops, desktops, camcorders, stereos, headphones and medical equipment. Not exactly Microsoft's core business.
1. A Japanese company being bought by an US company. An ELECTRONIC Japanese company. Since buying requires someone else willing to sell, this alone makes it VERY unlikely.
2. Sony > Playstation. Sony has its fingers in consumer electronics, cellphones, content industry, computers and a few more branches that I can't think of right now.
3. Antitrust. A direct result of 2., if MS only THOUGHT about buying PARTS of Sony, this would immediately bring the antitrust witchhunters on them. And I doubt MS wants more attention from the feds concerning their monopoly situation, especially in areas like Korea (south) and the EC.
4. Price. Another result of 2. Sony isn't some local company they scoop up on their road to market domination, I'd guess if anything it would be merger, but not buy-out. And merging would again bring a beehive of antitrust lawyers on them.
What I can see is an attempt to support the games of other consoles. They might try that, yes. For the simple reason that this IS undoubtedly a killer argument for one console over the other (when you can play PS and XBox games with one, why buy the other one that can play just one of them?).
But a buy out? Doubt it.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
People should take a tour in a TV studio or movie studio and see the "real" Sony empire.
:)
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If you are in business, it looks real funny when you read things like "Sony can't sell iPod things, they are doomed".
There is "Sony" involved somehow in the production. Always.
They should start to advertise the "Professional" Sony to end users/customers so they don't get false impressions. There are people thinking "betacam" or "digital betacam" has something to do with beta video tapes
(beta was better of course!)
Besides jokes, Sony has a real image problem. It is obvious.
Why should Microsoft buy Sony when Sony are doing such a good job of knocking themselves out of their own key markets? The PSP3 and BlueRay sound like classic troubled products. Sony's sprawling consumer electronics arm is up against the likes of Samsung these days. And Sony's public profile has been dragged through the mud by the CD rootkit scandal. Microsoft don't ahve to do much more than stand and watch.
In addition, there would be a serious cultural and probably political offset: the Americanos operating in the heartland of SE Asian electronics. That would go down like a lead balloon in many quarters.
When you've got $40 billion in the bank, anything can sound like a good buy. Quite why Micrsoft should get into manufacturing cameras and alarm clocks is a bit mystifying. There are many other things they could spend more wisely on, unless Sony goes so tits up that it is sold of piecemeal and bits can be bought separately.
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Completely aside from the subject and content, it's hard to give this article much credibility when it reads like a remedial English paper. If a writer is attempting to express his opinion, especially in such a belligerent fasion, it behooves him to have a strong command of the English language. Reading an article filled with so many errors does not make me inclined to agree with the author; on the contrary, it makes me inclined to question his judgement and intelligence.
If this article had been written more thoughtfully, I might have said he had some points worth considering, but as it is I find them easy to dismiss. If the author doesn't care enough to check over his own work or isn't bright enough to see the numerous glaring mistakes, I can't help but think that his analysis is equally careless.
That's probably more of a Freudian Slip than it is a typo. Unintentional revelations as to what the writer's real thoughts about the topic are.
'Yes, firefox is indeed greater than women. Can women block pops up for you? No. Can Firefox show you naked women? Yes.'
Is it just me, or outside the horrible grammar and such, is this article making the mistake that Sony is ONLY the Playstation line of game consoles? If I go to Sony's web page, I see a ton of things that have little to do with gaming (directly) - Stereos, Walkmans, TVs, etc. How can these guys say that Sony is "Ailing"?
Sony has been around way too long (60 years this May 7th) for one simple launch will kill these guys. That is like saying that Itanium would kill Intel. Just short sighted reporting.
IMHO, what this is is nothing more than Just Another ailing Tech Site that is trying to bump up their hits by posting some crazy article that speculates some crazy stuff and then get it on a site that will generate some traffic. Hell, the name of the guy who reported this is a freaking LINK to that crappy sites front page.
Now that I see this - this is bogus, nothing but what I said, trying to boost readership at the expense of slashdoters.
RonB
It is human nature to take shortcuts in thinking.
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