LAS VEGAS, CES 2012 – Want to see at a glance everything that’s wrong with Sony? Look at that monstrosity above. It’s Sony’s new TV remote, and while the Japanese electronics maker prattled on about its wireless capabilities, backlit keyboard and VoIP microphone, the rest of the industry at CES is showing off voice- and gesture- controlled Smart TVs in anticipation of Apple’s entry into the market.
Totally clueless. Sony’s press event on Monday evening was like watching a company that had never even heard of Apple, let alone seen it in the last five years topple Sony’s lead in multiple industries.
By any measure, Sony’s event seemed to be at least a year behind the curve. Sony spent their entire press event talking about year old technology. They were even headlining 3DTVs and Google TVs. Madness.
The Sony presser was the very definition of a company burying its head in the sand. They talked about their Bloggie MP4 Pocket Camera, when everyone else is shooting video on their iPhone 4S. They talked about 3DTV, saying the $6 billion in theater revenue “spoke for itself” when the truth is no one’s buying 3D in the living room. They’re launching a new handheld game console when smartphones have almost completely cannibalized portable gaming system sales. They talked about Google TV, even though it’s been DOA. And they talked about living room keyboards when, by many accounts, Apple is just months away from destroying remotes in the living room once and for all.
Absolute lunacy. When Apple comes to the living room, expect Sony to be the first company to topple. Samsung will probably put up an excellent fight, but Sony’s engineers are just plugging away in their workshops like subterranean moles, completely unaware of the rumbling of the coming earthquake around them.
