Sony’s battered batteries
p2pnet.net News:- Sanyo Electric and Panasonic Shikoku Electronics are undoubtedly rubbing their hands in quiet satisfaction as Sony Corp’s ‘dangerous battery’ recalls continue. In fact, “analysts are wondering how much business Sony could lose to competitors in the battery business and whether Sony’s reputation for its other businesses has been tarnished,” says MarketWatch.
On the former, Fujitsu has just joined the Apple, Dell, Toshiba, IBM and Lenovo recall club, and on the latter, Sony entertainment customers, those people who always seem to be ignored while anaysts ponder, already know everything they need to know about ‘other’ Sony.
Sony BMG, for example, will never recover from the rootkit spyware fiasco under which it was found to have weasled software onto users’ computers via polluted music CDs.
The so-called DRM (digital restrictions management) Consumer Control applications were arguably worse than the flaming batteries rendering, as they did, infected systems liable to attack by hackers and viruses.
And still under the music category, Sony BMG is one of the Big Four Organized Music cartel members who own a whole slew of operations such as the ARIA in Australia, the BPI in Britain, the CRIA in Canada, the SNEP in France, the IMI in India, the JRIA in Japan and the RIAA in the US, to name but a very few.
Posing as trade outfits, their principal task currently is to act as front-ends for the Big Four as they continue to try to sue, rather than woo, their own customers into becoming properly compliant consumers, just like they use to be in the good old days BTN – Before the Net.
Then there’s Sony the movie-maker. It and the other five multi-billion-dollar fellow major Hollywood studios are waging a brutal war against file sharers whom, they claim (like their oppos in the music business) are “devastating” them.
The other five turn a conveniently blind eye to the fact Sony makes much of the equipment used by these alleged p2p desperados, most of them teenagers. Like what? Like tiny, easily concealed camera-recorders and inexpensive disc burners.
Thus, the Sony name is already thoroughly besmirched and meanwhile, “So far, companies have stayed mum about their plans in terms of their supply relationship with Sony, saying they have no plans now to change suppliers but that they wouldn’t comment on the future,” says MarketWatch.
Industry observers say computer makers are likely to look hard at shifting at least some of their business away from Sony and giving it to its two main competitors in the battery business, Sanyo Electric Co and Panasonic Shikoku Electronics Co, says the story.
“Sony’s brand is severely damaged,” it has Roger Kay, president of Endpoint Technologies Associates, saying. “I think it’s going to be a question whether they can be in the battery business at all.”
But others have “praised Sony,” MarketWatch continues, saying the company is “taking care of the problem”.
One such is Daniel Ernst, an analyst with Soleil Hudson Square Research, who’s quoted as saying, “I think Sony has done the right thing, being the stand-up citizen that they are, and saying in part, ‘This is our problem, and we’ll pay for it’.”
So far, the recall has totaled approximately seven million units, and it still isn’t clear how many more yhere will be, says MarketWatch, adding.
“In a statement, Sony said, ‘Sony always strives to deliver the highest level of satisfaction to its customers and all consumers. We believe that this (recall) program is in the best interest of both our customers and all consumers’.”
Generously, Sony has offered to reimburse computer makers for costs involved.
Stay tuned.
Also See:
MarketWatch – Sony battery recall hurts brand, business – analysts, September 29, 2006
The Register - MS accuses DRM hacker of source code theft, September 27, 2006
p2pnet newsfeeds for your site.
rss feed: http://p2pnet.net/p2p.rss
Mobile – http://p2pnet.net/index-wml.php
