Sony has executed a profound strategic shift in recent years. The Japanese company has reduced its weight in the consumer electronics business, which was its hallmark, to pivot toward the entertainment industry. Its future growth now relies on two clear pillars: video games, with PlayStation, and music, with its publishing and licensing division.
Technology as Support, Not as an End 🛠️
This shift means that technological development at Sony is no longer primarily oriented toward creating end-user consumer hardware for the general public, such as televisions or players. Instead, technology is conceived as a means to enhance its content platforms. Advances in chips, like the one in PS5, or in storage, serve to create closed ecosystems that retain users in their gaming, music, and movie services.
From Walkmans to 'Walk-away': When Content is King 👑
It's curious to see how the company that sold us the device to listen to music now prefers to sell the music itself. The cycle closes: before, you needed a Sony device to enjoy its content. Now, Sony's content reaches you on any device, even if it's not from their brand. A strategy that, given the decline of many of its physical products, seems to say: if you can't beat your competition, become their main supplier.