Why Is Sony So Bad At This?

[NeXuS4]

Why is Sony so bad at this smart phone thing? It seems like they are not even trying sometimes. For example, why does the Galaxy s4 have a better camera than the Xperia Z? Sony has decades of experience making cameras so wtf? Also things like screen quality, battery life, and quite possibly the worst example, audio quality.

Also why isn't there more PlayStation integration? It's a huge winning brand that no one else can compare to and they are not utilizing it properly in my opinion.

Does anyone else feel this way? Like Sony is half-assing it?

I know there is a Sony forum but no one ever goes there. That being said I guess if this gets moved it gets moved.

 

[Mostly Harmless]

I often wonder about this myself. They did try to integrate playstation with a specialized phone but it didn't go anywhere.

It seems like there biggest problem is being able to bring a phone to the market in a timely manner. Every time they release a phone it's with yesterdays version of Android. The latest hardware looks great and if they could just push it out with the latest software and continue to support it software wise they would make it a lot further. I also think that they are still riding their coat tales from 10 years ago where they had a much bigger share and innovations in the market. Maybe ego getting in the way?

Also they need to follow Samsung and HTC's footsteps and put out one flagship phone and push it hard. It surprises me that they don't already do this and surround the phone with other sony products (speakers etc...).

 

[Gmash]

It's a good point, you would think they would push great audio quality and camera since they have the technology in-house already. However, they are an ass-backwards company and all of their divisions hate each other lol.

 

[NeXuS4]

In a lot of ways it reflects the fall of Japan as an innovation leader and the rise of South Korea.

But why? If you skin Android with PlayStation I will eat that $#@& up in a minute, so why is that so hard?

Bravias are arguably the best TVs, PlayStation is arguably the best videogame system, VAIOs are arguably the best computers, so why aren't Xperias the best phones?

 

[SulkyAndroid17]

For example, why does the Galaxy s4 have a better camera than the Xperia Z?

Damn Sony for not having a time machine.

 

[NeXuS4]

Damn Sony for not having a time machine.

These phones were obviously in development at the same time, the fact the s4 came out a couple of months later should have no bearing on anything. Please don't troll my threads.

 

[SulkyAndroid17]

These phones were obviously in development at the same time, the fact the s4 came out a couple of months later should have no bearing on anything. Please don't troll my threads.

I'm not trolling and you shouldn't set up a straw man fallacy. You're comparing a previously released phone to a future one. The Xperia Z was likely designed earlier and so released earlier. It makes sense that the S4 might come out a little ahead in specs. Unless, Sony and Samsung started design and development on the same day then I don't see how your argument has any relevance.

Bravias are arguably the best TVs, PlayStation is arguably the best videogame system, VAIOs are arguably the best computers, so why aren't Xperias the best phones?

"Arguably" is Sony's problem. I've never heard anything great about Bravias. And VAIOs aren't anything special either. On the other hand, the PS3 was great. Too bad they were late to the market and few hundred dollars more expensive. Sony can build a great product. However, when they do it's almost never at a competing price point.

 

[NeXuS4]

Just because a product is later to market doesn't mean it's better, for example the iPhone 5 and the Lumia 920 still have some of the best cameras on the market even though they have been out for over six months. I used the word "arguably" for a reason but you have a hard time convincing me they are not synonymous with quality.

 

[SulkyAndroid17]

Just because a product is later to market doesn't mean it's better, for example the iPhone 5 and the Lumia 920 still have some of the best cameras on the market even though they have been out for over six months. I used the word "arguably" for a reason but you have a hard time convincing me they are not synonymous with quality.

Your right, sometimes there is a flop. Window's Vista and AMD's Bulldozer are examples of this. But you should expect technology to improve. It's not like companies sit around and say "Hey, lets take a step back and charge for it."

As for the iphone 5 and Lumina 920, what are those phones being compared too? I bet it's not devices that haven't been released yet.

Bravias are arguably the best TVs, PlayStation is arguably the best videogame system, VAIOs are arguably the best computers, so why aren't Xperias the best phones?

"Arguably," the Xperia Z is one of the best phones out there. Except you've set up a straw man fallacy to tear it down.

 

[NeXuS4]

For the last time this thread is (not) about me. Please stick to the topic.

 

[SulkyAndroid17]

For the last time this thread is (not) about me. Please stick to the topic.

Perhaps, you should better define the topic. The Z is a stellar device. So, what's wrong with it?

 

[NeXuS4]

Perhaps, you should better define the topic. The Z is a stellar device. So, what's wrong with it?

It's going to get it's ass handed to it by the s4 and one. That much is obvious to anyone paying attention to what's going on with android.

It might be nice but it's sub par, it's simply put, the status quo. Samsung expects to ship tens of millions of s4's but Sony can't say the same for the Z.

 

[AntimonyER]

I will say samsung has gone all in on their mobile division, sparing no expense. (just look at their advertising budget). Sony doesn't have the same level of fervor for their mobile division, and some of that may come out in the details.

Each side of this conversation has valid points, let's keep our focus on those please

 

[Hadron]

There is a valid point in asking why the Xperia Z's camera is inferior to the S4's (as seems to be the case from the samples I've seen). It's not just a matter of "the S4 is more recent so what do you expect?", because my understanding (may be wrong) is that both use the same sensor (made by Sony).

My guess is that Samsung just do a better job of the image processing algorithms. Given Sony's experience in making cameras (and they have made some very good ones), I can only guess that the person who suggested that internal politics between divisions stops them making the most of their expertise may have a point.

 

[mikedt]

Why is Sony so bad at this smart phone thing? It seems like they are not even trying sometimes. For example, why does the Galaxy s4 have a better camera than the Xperia Z? Sony has decades of experience making cameras so wtf? Also things like screen quality, battery life, and quite possibly the worst example, audio quality.

Also why isn't there more PlayStation integration? It's a huge winning brand that no one else can compare to and they are not utilizing it properly in my opinion.

Does anyone else feel this way? Like Sony is half-assing it?

Nothing new really. Sony has been half-assing it for a long time IMO..

A recent and quite lengthy what went wrong with Sony AF Lounge thread
http://androidforums.com/lounge/651707-what-went-wrong-sony.html

I know there is a Sony forum but no one ever goes there. That being said I guess if this gets moved it gets moved.

Maybe because so few people are buying their phones? Myself, I've not seen a new Sony phone in a long time. But then I don't think they sell them here, in what is a very difficult and competitive market. AFAICT there's only two non-Chinese makes of phone doing really well here, Samsung and Apple. But on the other hand, I do see quite a few Sony TVs.

 

[NeXuS4]

I think the thing that annoys me the most is I keep imagining what it would be like to have seamless PlayStation Network integration on a top of the line Android phone that wasn't half-baked.

 

[Hadron]

Maybe because so few people are buying their phones? Myself, I've not seen a new Sony phone in a long time. But then I don't think they sell them here, in what is a very difficult and competitive market. AFAICT there's only two non-Chinese makes of phone doing really well here, Samsung and Apple. But on the other hand, I do see quite a few Sony TVs.

You see plenty of Sony phones in the shops in the UK, though I only occasionally see one in the street (or on the train, which is where I normally phone spot).

But TBH none of the manufacturer forums here are very busy - most moderately popular device's forums get much more activity than the corresponding manufacturer forum.

 

[ouch1976]

I think further complicating Sony's issues is that they haven't had a top-tier device on Verizon in ages, if ever. If you can't get your phone on the biggest carrier in the US, you're going to have a tough time generating awareness.

 

[Androidvipclub]

Samsung builds phones and more than 60% of phone parts are made by the company itself. That is not the case for Sony. So Sony has more costs and chooses cheaper parts. That s my theory.

 

[mikedt]

I think the thing that annoys me the most is I keep imagining what it would be like to have seamless PlayStation Network integration on a top of the line Android phone that wasn't half-baked.

Keep dreaming I think. AFAICT at the moment Sony is basically a fragmented mess, with different divisions all doing their own thing and not talking to each other in the absence of a single guiding visionary, Akio Morita. Kind of like the way Apple was for a long time, until Steve Jobs returned.

 

[NeXuS4]

Keep dreaming I think. AFAICT at the moment Sony is basically a fragmented mess, with different divisions all doing their own thing and not talking to each other in the absence of a single guiding visionary, Akio Morita. Kind of like the way Apple was for a long time, until Steve Jobs returned.

So they just need the Japanese equivalent of Steve Jobs? Is that all? /s

 

[mikedt]

So they just need the Japanese equivalent of Steve Jobs? Is that all? /s

I think they need to do something.

I'm sure the best example of Sony divisions not communicating was Walkman products. For almost 20 years a Sony Walkman was like thee personal stereo to have, and then for various reasons they let Apple have most of it.

For a long time digital Walkmans where just horrible, namely because of the dreadful and buggy Sonic Stage software that you had to use with them.

Sony Music produced DRM'd audio CDs that used Windows Media, which worked with various MP3 players except Walkmans.

Many Sony audio products have Apple iPod and iPhone docks on them, NOT Walkman docks. Despite the fact for a while some Walkmans did have a dock type connector on them. But Sony never supported it in their other audio products. About 5 years ago I bought a Sony Walkman X1000 MP3 player. A touch screen device which also had WiFi and a web-browser. And it was actually a really good player, with great SQ. This had a dock connector on the bottom for inserting into audio systems and powered speakers. I remember going around the stores and noting that any Sony audio product with a dock connector was Apple, and NOT Sony.

There was the Sony Connect music store, which sold music that could only be played on Walkmans, and not other Sony audio products.

Take Microsoft for example, they integrate Xbox Live into the Xbox itself of course, as well as Windows Phone, Windows desktop and Surface. And of course with Apple, all their products are designed to work together.

Sony's founder was Akio Morita, who passed away in 1999. IMO it was after that time that Sony really began "half-assing it", ....when Howard Stringer(not Japanese) became CEO. One can probably assume that the Playstation division is not really communicating with the other divisions of Sony, like Xperia smart-phones or Vaio PC products. And probably the camera division as well, maybe why the Xperia Z only has a mediocre camera? Sony bought the camera business, they used to be called Konica. Although I was never particularly impressed with Konica cameras.