Sony’s new online service connecting the whole range of its gadgets to downloadable content like movies and games should help build brand loyalty, a top executive said Friday.
Executive vice-president Kazuo Hirai said the service highlights an advantage that Sony has over rivals like Samsung Electronics Co. and other manufacturers that don’t produce their own content. Sony’s business empire spans gaming, electronics, movies and music.
“That’s the kind of combination that I think is not seen anywhere else,” Hirai said. “That I think is where our core competence lies, and that’s a differentiator for Sony.”
The online service, set to start next year, will include games, movie downloads and other interactive entertainment, which will be accessible on Sony products, such as Bravia TVs, Cyber-shot digital cameras and Reader electronic books.
Sony already offers streaming video, comic delivery and a news service, but could expand into any of the services available for personal computers, such as fitness and financial services, said Hirai.
Sony is targeting annual sales of 300 billion yen (US$3.4 billion) from its networked services businesses and 350 million network-connected products by the fiscal year ending March 2013.
Sony’s service for PlayStation 3 video games, which began three years ago, has attracted 33 million users.
In outlining a turnaround strategy Thursday, chief executive Howard Stringer flagged network services as a major area where Sony hopes to grow, as well as 3-D TVs, new displays, electronic books and batteries for cars.
Sony is expecting its second straight annual loss for the fiscal year through March 2010–hurt by sliding prices, the global slowdown and the absence of blockbusters products like Apple Inc.’s iPod or Nintendo Co.’s Wii.
It has fallen behind in liquid-crystal display TVs to Samsung of South Korea and Japanese rival Sharp Corp. Sony is hoping to be profitable in that business by the fiscal year ending March 2011.
