Something originating from Sony thats actually come out on top? Must be a first.

They did okay with Sony Walkmans and CDs, as I recall.

And they have been trying to do the same ever since!

They've occasionally succeeded since (PlayStation 2). They're not the only consumer electronics manufacturer; they can't expect to win them all.

But cd was being created by Philips before Sony joined in on the act and IIRC Samsung have a large stake in Bluray -apparently more than Sony

I think it's Matsushita that has the largest stake in Blu-ray - in terms of IP at any rate.

But that aside, I don't dispute that some of its successes have been collaborative efforts. There seems to be a general rule that "one company against many" doesn't seem to work all that well - it didn't work for Sony with Betamax (in the general consumer market, at any rate), and it hasn't worked for Toshiba with HD DVD, by the looks of things.

i dont suppose it is in any way relevant but last night every other advert on tv seemed to be for toshiba laptops. maybe another sign that they are letting go and refocussing their efforts on something else ? just a thought.

Just look out for the one trying to get a refund on a HD-DVD player

CD was almost entirely Philips, based on their Laserdisc player technology - Sony helped with the error correction systems.