Nice..Broadband future lies beyond PC, says Sony's Ando
NEW YORK/TOKYO (Reuters) - The broadband world of instant Internet access is close at hand
for consumers, despite the rapid demise of the dotcom era, a top Sony executive said on Thursday.
It's just that America's obsession with the personal computer has blinded it to the emergence of
many non-PC alternatives, Kunitake Ando, Sony Corp's president and chief operating officer, said
in an interview.
``We feel not just the PC, but the non-PCs like the digital (audio video), the PlayStations (and the
mobile products) may come centre-stage,'' the Sony executive said.
``Some people are allergic to the use of PCs.'' the blunt-speaking Ando told Reuters. The No. 2
man at the world's largest maker of audio-visual electronics sees Internet-connected handheld
audio and video devices, mobile phones and televisions as increasingly leading the move to the fast
Internet era.
He spoke via telephone early on Thursday from Tokyo.
Ando, who is widely seen as the successor to Sony CEO Nobuyuki Idei, will step into the
limelight next month when he delivers a keynote speech in Las Vegas at Comdex, the U.S
computer industry's largest annual trade show.
``We are going to introduce a series of Net-ready products,'' he said, outlining a push by Sony to
introduce an array of Net-connected electronics to the United States and other markets that are now
only available in Japan.
Sony's line-up of new gadgets includes ``NetMD,'' a music player that allows users to download
songs from the Internet and record play them on Sony's MiniDisc format. New high-resolution
flat-panel displays are coming to create home digital theatres. Network handycam digital
camcorders with short-distance Bluetooth wireless network links will finally reach U.S.
consumers.
Sony's business remains firmly rooted in hardware sales -- two-thirds of all revenues still come
from electronics -- but the company's long-term goal is to use broadband as a way to diversify into
new subscription-based services.
As evidence of its over reliance on hardware, Sony slipped into the red in the July-September
quarter with a consolidated net loss of 13.18 billion yen ($107 million), led by the electronics
division, interim earnings results showed on Thursday.
NETWORKED GADGETS TO OVERTAKE PCs
While the obituaries have been written for several years, the dominance of stand-alone,
desktop-tethered devices is now past, Ando said, opening the way for Sony to capitalise on the
shift to alternative ways of hooking up to the Internet.
Make way for special purpose, always on, network-connected devices like the i-mode mobile Net
phones in Japan, which boast more than 28 million users.
Sony is trying to cover all these bases, from mobile phones to Clie handheld entertainment devices
to its hot-selling Sony PlayStation 2 video game console.
And while Ando's enthusiasm for the PC-centred view of the world may be tempered, Sony
remains among the top three retailers of notebook computers in the world with its sleek Vaio line of
machines.
In Sonyspeak, the pre-1994 era is referred to as the AV, or Audio/Visual era. The 1995 to 1999
period is remembered for the convergence between audio visual and information technology
devices. The current era -- 2000 to 2004 -- will see the emergence of a wide array of networked
electronics.
Blast-off year is 2005 according to the Sony timeline. This will bring what Ando calls ``the
ubiquitous value network,'' where devices are always on, always connected, always delivering a
range of services to individuals wherever they are.
Sony is working on digital television and strategies for the day when widely available broadband
connections enable Sony's films, TV shows and games to be easily streamed directly into homes
when consumers want them.
Founded by a handful of radio engineers in the ruins of postwar Japan, Sony is legendary for
placing huge bets on unproven technologies and sticking with them for years even when quick
pay-offs failed to materialise. This was how the transistor radio and Trinitron color television were
born.
The dawning of this new strategy is evidenced in Sony's EverQuest, the most popular online,
multi-player gaming service, billed by subscription. More such services are coming, built around
the company's music, movie and other entertainment properties, and even its financial services
businesses in Japan, Ando said.
The Sony vision is perhaps most clearly seen in the Airboard -- a wireless, flat screen device 10
inches (25 cm) wide that is designed to be carried around the house in order to view television,
digital pictures or Web pages.
Ando cites these ``location-free'' devices as a prime example of what Sony has in mind for
residential broadband use. With its built-in network connections, the device, currently only
available in Japan, can act as a remote control to manage other devices around the house.
