New Technology TV

The well known and well respected company Sony turned 60 years old this year. The flat screen televisions and HDTV’s (High Definition Televisions) made by the company are one of their biggest sellers currently, but it hasn’t been easy for the company to stay competitive in the fast-paced international marketplace. Sony has a new CEO, a non-Japanese for the first time in the history of the company, and he is implementing new strategies for the company. Of course, Sony is involved in more than just electronics or cutting edge Hi-Def televisions these days. There is the movie division, electronic gaming, financial divisions, Blu-ray DVD, and more. Part of Sony’s new idea is to become leaner and faster. They have cut nearly ten thousand jobs within their work force of over 150,000. Other changes include the termination of the robot dog, Aibo and Sony no longer manufactures plasma televisions. Sony had a top-of-the-line division called “Quaila” that made extremely expensive, highly engineered products. For example, they made a CD player/ audio device that would center and play a disc no matter how haphazardly a user put the disc in the player—a great feature—but the price on the unit was $13,000. While this division created some engineering marvels, the devices never caught on with the public. Gone also, are the cushy advisory jobs for dozens of retired executives—and their limousines as well. Interestingly, the placement of their products in movies, films and television shows is not an avenue pursued by Sony.

Many companies find product placement an excellent form of marketing, especially to the 18 – 24 demographic.The electronics side of their business is doing well with the selling of televisions and iPod like music players. Since they no longer make plasma televisions, Sony is working with Korean giant Samsung to produce cutting edge LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) televisions. Most experts think that Sony has some ground to make up in this area. It is widely considered that Sony lived too long on their early reputation acquired from the terribly popular Walkman: a product that dominated the burgeoning electronics market for a new generation of mobile, entertainment-hungry consumers. Today, Sony is poised for a comeback. Its far-flung empire of movies, finance, video games, computers and flat panels is already in the black in some areas of the company. Although Sony may have been too focused on the successes of their superb CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) television technology, they have made, and continue to produce some of the best CRT’s in the world. For anyone wanting great picture quality, but not ready for an LCD HD, Sony has some excellent prices on standard, enhanced, and HD CRT models.