At the end of last month a rumors had spread that Apple would buy Sony and Sony stocks had moved up.
If Apple buy Sony we might be able to see Sony Pictures’ movies on iTunes, more games on iTunes and Sony Music artists’ songs on Japanese iTunes store ( and Japanese iTunes music store is not rich on song lineup so this might be a great benefit for Japanese iTunes lovers).
It was just a rumor but Google has more reasons to buy Sony than Apple does.
1. Google TV
Sony recently release Google TV and being the best partner to spread Google TV against little Apple TV set top box. Although Sony is not shinning as it was on 80’s, Sony is being a top leading company and known brand for TV.
2. Good partner to spread Android handsets
Sony’s first Android handest Xperia is the second best selling smartphone in Japan. 2.2 million smartphone was shipped in the first half year of 2010 in Japan and while Apple iPhone occupied 60.1 % of the market, Sony covered 20.6%, shipped 460 thousand Xperia handsets.
3.Google is a company good to make software / Sony is a company good to make hardware
Sony can provide hardware for Google, and Google can provide software for Sony. This might be a best combination. Apple is not making hardware by themselves but selling hardware is their main business.
4. Good executive relationship?
Former president of Google Japan, Koichiro Tsujino was president of Sony’s personal computer division, where he led VAIO PC brand before joining Google.
Of course this is just a speculation but Google might work to buy Sony if Apple is really thinking to buy it.
Hiroumi Mitani
After what HP just announced with its TouchPad and WebOS, chatter about a Nokia Microsoft partnership, these software-hardware integrated ecosystems certainly are en vogue. As impressively demonstrated by apple, this is the way to make products smaller, thinner, lighter, faster – to make sexy products. Consumers are willing to pay a high price for these sexy gadgets.
Google has a different philosophy, they focus on functionality, enabled by software, which they want to run anywhere, also on hardware without top specs. Of course Google needs hardware partners, but it don’t need to excel in hardware, as its focus is on functionality enabled by software. Google wants to marginalize hardware.
Google’s business model is based on the availability of cheap hardware, as a broad installed base ready for the Google software experience. Problem is that hardware makers are not interested in this low margin cheapo hardware business.
Google has a problem with its business model, and joining up with a hardware maker won’t solve it.
Actually, Google needs a hardware partner who makes cheap hardware, and that isn’t Sony.