[Philip Wales]

Some problems are of the manufacturers own making though. A few years ago I decided my next TV was going to be a 50" Plasma, I currently owned a 32" Panasonic LCD, so started looking around at the Pana 50"'s. The current model was getting a few criticisms about banding etc, and Panasonic were saying it's all ok etc. I ended up buying the 50" LG from "Richer Sounds" and even though its not as good as the Panasonic it was nearly £500 cheaper and with a 5 year warranty. At the time the Panasonic just didn't justify the additional outlay. If Panasonic had admitted there was a problem and would rectify it, if it occurred with your set, then no problem but they didn't. So they lost a customer ( I have quite a few Panasonic items)

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by JulesandSand

He says he couldn't survive selling Sony products alone and that Sony UK's turnover has dropped from £1.3bn to £300m.

If it's just £300m now it must be a projection as we're not through March yet but quite possible.
Sony UK Ltd has been renamed Sony Europe Ltd. The UK turnover for this pan-European company is:
y/e 31/03/2010: £1.25bn
y/e 31/03/2011: £1.28bn
y/e 31/03/2012: £0.73bn

This excludes Sony Computer Entertainment and the music, mobile, tv and film companies.

[edEx]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

If it's just £300m now it must be a projection as we're not through March yet but quite possible.
Sony UK Ltd has been renamed Sony Europe Ltd. The UK turnover for this pan-European company is:
y/e 31/03/2010: £1.25bn
y/e 31/03/2011: £1.28bn
y/e 31/03/2012: £0.73bn

This excludes Sony Computer Entertainment and the music, mobile, tv and film companies.

And Sony's Bank in Japan. For the past few years the Bank, Sony Music (incl. Sony/ATV publishing) and Sony Pictures have been keeping the company afloat.

Must be quite soul-destroying seeing all the profit your division has made being swallowed into a great big hole, but Sony are hardly alone amongst companies where that's the case.

[call100]

Our nearest Sony centre has breathed it's last..The main problem is that it was in the City centre and the sort of people who frequent the area are not going to shop in Sony centres. There are no real 'high end' shops left on the high street here. I find no reason to shop within it's boundaries and I guess many more now shop elsewhere......
That said, Sony is no longer necessarily a first choice when buying tech.

[webbie]

Our Sony centre went years ago. In my opinion their best products were their trinitron tvs. Since flat panels have replaced them, and their flat panel tvs are not obviously significantly better than any one elses (unlike trinitrons), they have struggled. Unless their venture in OLED tvs with Panasonic comes good, I think they're best days are well behind them. Unfortunate because their products were better made than most but peolpe aren't prepared to pay the premium any more.

[Chris Frost]

Up to the early 90's Sony made a lot of it's own gear. If some was made under licence it didn't really show. Then the rot started to set in as Sony focussed on becoming a marketing company. Maybe this coincided with Sony's ambitions to be a film and music company, I don't know. It just seemed like they gave up on innovation or stuck too much to technologies that just didn't catch the consumer's imagination in the same way. Sony used to lead. Now it just seems to follow.

[Dirtyhippy]

Have to echo the above post, I bought Sony products in the early noughties expecting them to be built to last only to experience a disappointing failure rate. I may have been unlucky but anecdotal evidence suggests otherwise.

I do still own a Sony AV receiver though and its so far (touch wood) it has performed reliably and ably. I also own a Sony Xperia S mobile phone so I suppose I'm still a fan.

[jjne]

Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin

Not at all, Philips have NEVER had a reputation for decent build quality, nor reliability.

I only said "comparable".

You surely must acknowledge that the CD players Philips were manufacturing in the 1980s were closer in quality to peers like Tosh or Sony than the like of UMC are to Panasonic now

[Nigel Goodwin]

Originally Posted by jjne

You surely must acknowledge that the CD players Philips were manufacturing in the 1980s were closer in quality to peers like Tosh or Sony than the like of UMC are to Panasonic now

No, nothing special as usual from Philips - their mechs were particularly poor (bit like their video mechs )

Philips always rejected quality in favour of playability - Philips CD players would play discs that other makes wouldn't attempt, but this was at the sacrifice of audio quality.

[jjne]

Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin

No, nothing special as usual from Philips - their mechs were particularly poor (bit like their video mechs )

Philips always rejected quality in favour of playability - Philips CD players would play discs that other makes wouldn't attempt, but this was at the sacrifice of audio quality.

What is it about Philips mechs that "sacrifice... audio quality"?

[ianradioian]

??? Most radio stations that Ive worked in over the years have used philips cd players and theyve been perfectly reliable and long lived, still see them in studio work now.

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by edEx

And Sony's Bank in Japan. For the past few years the Bank, Sony Music (incl. Sony/ATV publishing) and Sony Pictures have been keeping the company afloat.

Must be quite soul-destroying seeing all the profit your division has made being swallowed into a great big hole, but Sony are hardly alone amongst companies where that's the case.

Yes, Sony's now a media company which happens to design and market electronic products too. But not necessarily a bad thing - the Beatles music publishing royalties should continue to deliver long after the last of its TVs trundles off the production line.
To its credit, it has made a great success of its media arm whereas Matsushita/Panasonic's acquisition of Universal Studios was a disaster. But like other record companies, Sony was blind to the benefits of digital music as pioneered by Apple, despite owning the content, producing Walkmen and possessing a mobile phone arm.
The PlayStation is a big product for Sony but there are issues for all games consoles in the longer term. http://readwrite.com/2013/03/04/game...lopers-know-it

[Nigel Goodwin]

Originally Posted by jjne

What is it about Philips mechs that "sacrifice... audio quality"?

The mechs didn't - and I didn't even imply that.

The design of Philips CD players was specifically to increase 'playability' where as Sony's designs (and everyone else's) were for improved audio quality.

[Soundbox]

I remember the Sony range in Dixons in the mid 1990's. The range of MiniDisc seperates, Trinitron TV's and decent quality VCR's was inspiring to look at (and use). Sony equipment always had a certain feel to it with nice to operate buttons that never failed and the finish was always understated and muted. Where are the Sony Hi-Fi seperates these days? I miss those and always bought at least one a year.

[Nigel Goodwin]

Originally Posted by Soundbox

decent quality VCR's was inspiring to look at (and use).

Sony rarely made their own VHS VCR's - and those they did weren't anything special.

They bought them in from (at least) Sanyo, Grundig, Hitachi and Samsung - with Samsung being the supplier for the last years until they were discontinued.

[1andrew1]

Sony used to have a large French VCR plant in Alsace. It's still a Sony location, but now used mainly as as a repair and logistics centre. http://www.sony-alsace.com/site/Welcome-28.html

[Nigel Goodwin]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

Sony used to have a large French VCR plant in Alsace. It's still a Sony location, but now used mainly as as a repair and logistics centre. http://www.sony-alsace.com/site/Welcome-28.html

I don't see why they would have a 'large VCR plant' when they hardly ever made VHS machines? - unless you're referring to an old Betamax plant?.

There's a Sony place in France (I forget where) that we have to send faulty panels and boards back to, it used to be Barcelona, but it moved to France a while back (as they sold the Barcelona plane off).

If I remember I'll check where it is tomorrow.

[The Cricketer]

Never found the Sony Centre experience to be that great. Our local closed down 2 years ago, and hasnt been missed. A new Panasonic shop has opened but I havent bothered to check it out.

I cant bear the thought of buying an LG or Samsung as I am old enough to remember what they were like before they came into big money! LG? More like Goldstar! Cheap & nasty!

[Peter the Great]

Originally Posted by The Cricketer

Never found the Sony Centre experience to be that great. Our local closed down 2 years ago, and hasnt been missed. A new Panasonic shop has opened but I havent bothered to check it out.

I cant bear the thought of buying an LG or Samsung as I am old enough to remember what they were like before they came into big money! LG? More like Goldstar! Cheap & nasty!

A strange reason surely? You should base your opinion on what Samsung and LG products are like now. Besides although Goldstar and Samsung did use to aim at the budget market I never found them unreliable. I had a Goldstar TV that lasted years.

[iangrad]

You all know about the banks miss selling scandal , how about the scandal and future claims from millions of consumers worldwide suing for fraudulently being sold what they thought was made by whosoever badge was on the front only to find it was just a "bought in" product made by a 3rd party supplier .

They are all at it with TV's with a established name -- now made in Turkey not by the brand name on the front . Major European electronics former manufacturer who licences out the brand to who ever will use and pay for it , and this differs according to the product type !

Huge car maker who's smallest car is made by a totally different manufacture in Poland .

Frankly its fraud or "passing off" Can you imagine the claims if a few successful claims were made in the courts it would be the end of most electronic brands within months .

[alan1302]

Except it's not fraud unless they claimed that they made them - which they don't.

[iangrad]

Hmmm - not so sure if I spend my hard earned cash on a product expensive ( lets say a mobile phone ) or not that says brand XXXXXX on the front I am going to be very disappointed to find that it was built by a Chinese computer board maker !

Or I buy a digital camera with the name of a famous Japanese camera maker on to find that that it is made by a 3rd party make who makes it under many brands and all that changes is the label .

Bit like if it says meat on the packet it should be meat not horse !

[webbie]

horse (meat) is meat.

[iangrad]

Originally Posted by webbie

horse (meat) is meat.

LOL yes I should have put beef !

[Nigel Goodwin]

Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin

I don't see why they would have a 'large VCR plant' when they hardly ever made VHS machines? - unless you're referring to an old Betamax plant?.

There's a Sony place in France (I forget where) that we have to send faulty panels and boards back to, it used to be Barcelona, but it moved to France a while back (as they sold the Barcelona plane off).

If I remember I'll check where it is tomorrow.

Just checked its:

ALSACE TEC SAV LCD
RIBEAUVILLE