Mar 6, 2010
Nine Years Late
The ever innovative Sony is apparently preparing to respond to the competitive threat they face from … iTunes, first released in 2001. According to eWeek:
Sony is leaking customers to Apple, with gamers increasingly turning toward the iPhone and away from the PlayStation. Apple iPad users and e-reader enthusiasts, too, are expected to cut into Sony Reader profits.
To combat this, Sony is developing a lineup of handheld products, which includes a smartphone capable of downloading games and a “multifunction device,” as well as a new online media platform intended to take on Apple iTunes, the Wall Street Journal reported March 5.
The platform will reportedly launch in March, while the new devices will arrive later this year.
Timely, eh? Good thing they’ve got a next generation of products ready to replace the DiscMan should upstart Apple’s iPod ever become popular.