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Sony products do seem to be very expensive compared to the competition. I recently bout a Sony smartphone to replace my Windows Phone - mostly just to be different. So far it works just fine:
we've replaced sony with lg products. in fact, nearly everything within our house is made by lg -- washer, dryer, range, refrigerator, dishwasher, over-the-range microwave, tvs, blu-ray/dvd players, speaker/audio systems, etc.
we haven't had a problem with any of them. lg is another korean brand that is ranking high in surveys conducted.
not to derail the thread but i buy exclusively sony tvs.
why? because they're a japanese brand perhaps? because of good prior experience?
to me, sony's best days are LONG behind them, sadly. they got complacent, and lazy, and chose not to work hard to really compete globally. (sounds familiar, re: thread)
this article from 2013 backs up something i'd heard... they lose a bundle in electronics, but make almost all their profits from financial services, namely insurance, in japan! http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/28/bu...ectronics.html
i AM thrilled though that they've become so aggressive in the high end camera space, finally giving nikon and canon some competition. sony does also make money from selling camera sensors and lenses to phone makers.
why? because they're a japanese brand perhaps? because of good prior experience?
to me, sony's best days are LONG behind them, sadly. they got complacent, and lazy, and chose not to work hard to really compete globally. (sounds familiar, re: thread)
this article from 2013 backs up something i'd heard... they lose a bundle in electronics, but make almost all their profits from financial services, namely insurance, in japan! http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/28/bu...ectronics.html
i AM thrilled though that they've become so aggressive in the high end camera space, finally giving nikon and canon some competition. sony does also make money from selling camera sensors and lenses to phone makers.
and navigation/infotainment head units to ford motor corporation.
The future was already here last November 2016, with Chinese Xiaomi's Mi Mix bezelless smart phone with a piezo-electric speaker [sound passes through the LCD screen]; it also has a fast processor, with 6 GB RAM & a massive 4400 mAH battery.
I didn't buy it because the speaker quality is poor [too soft], and the sound is not uni-directional, but multi-directional such that passers by can hear the conversation too.
Furthermore, the Mi Mix has a poor quality camera by modern industry standards.
Xiaomi is akin to Korea's Hyundai.
Xiaomi could have avoided the speaker problems had they made the lower edge bezelless, rather than try to make the upper edge bezelless.
Top selling Samsung has played it safe by avoiding the 3-sided bezelless phone for now.
Later this year, it is unlikely that Apple will release a 3-sided bezelless iPhone 8, because Samsung is their oLED hardware supplier, such that Apple is limited by what Samsung will supply.
Ultimately, everyone in the cell phone industry is wary of going too far with technology, learning from experience with the 2016 Samsung Galaxy Note 7 battery explosion & recall fiasco...
why? because they're a japanese brand perhaps? because of good prior experience?
to me, sony's best days are LONG behind them, sadly. they got complacent, and lazy, and chose not to work hard to really compete globally. (sounds familiar, re: thread)
this article from 2013 backs up something i'd heard... they lose a bundle in electronics, but make almost all their profits from financial services, namely insurance, in japan! http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/28/bu...ectronics.html
i AM thrilled though that they've become so aggressive in the high end camera space, finally giving nikon and canon some competition. sony does also make money from selling camera sensors and lenses to phone makers.
I do agree. However electronics today is not the same as it once was in the 70s and 80s. You don't need to spend big $$ to a get big screen TV or good speakers etc etc. Cell phones now seem to be all the range which is silly IMO. Years ago, when you wanted the best picture at home or the best sound system receiver you would have to spend a lot of money to get that. SONY, Pioneer, Panasonic were all brands you would trust. I remember our 50in projection TV was like $4000 in 1993 or around there. It was also able to be repaired when it was broken. Now, it has been replaced with a 1080p Samsung TV that was $899. Personally speaking, I wouldn't spend more than a $1000 on TV. You can get pretty good stuff for less than $1000 these days. Today's generation does not seem to care as much about great sound and great picture. The picture is good all around.
With that all said, we have two Samsungs, a Sharp 60in, a Sony record player and some older Pioneer Elite receivers. We also have a no name 40 in TV that was $700 back in 2008. The no name seems to still work and picture looks fine.
Sorry to stay off-topic but this got me thinking about my Sony Walkman S2 MP3 player. I refused to buy an iPod and loved this thing bc it looked so different from everyone else - like a blood vile on your arm. The bad part was that you had to use their proprietary software to convert MP3s to whatever format Sony was using then.
I've actually had two Sony TVs fail within 3-4 years of purchase over the past 7 years or so. One Sony replaced, then the replacement failed in exactly the same way. So, not gonna buy any more Sony TVs.
Oh, I still ended up with a *****ty one. I've had nothing but buggy software, random reboots, SLOW AS HELL inputs, etc. I've spent hours on the phone; they finally came out and replaced the motherboard which (just as I predicted) didn't fix a damn thing, so I had to call and ****** some more and they're replacing it. I'm not too happy with the replacement being "recertified", however I am getting a considerably better (and one year newer) model with HDR, which was the one thing this defective TV lacks. I agree that Sony has lost it's luster (I told them on the phone that if I wanted all this crap, hassle, hours on the phone etc. I'd have bought a Westinghouse or Hisense lol, not spent top dollar for a Sony) but if this replacement TV gives me no problems I'll still stay with the brand. Unfortunately I don't really think any brand is better. Samsung, eh, I prefer Japanese stuff to Korean. The tech guy when he came out even said that all TVs aren't built to last anymore. Gone are the days when you could buy a Sony TV and expect it to last 20 years. I have an early 00's old school Wega 27" that I refuse to get rid of, even though it's never used. You could probably plug it in 50 years from now when I'm on my deathbead and it would work as well as day one.
Sorry to go so OT, but since we got onto Sony TVs had to share.
Back to Lexus, I still feel a Lexus is hands-down the most reliable car out there. Take a 2017 LS460 vs a Kia K900 and see which one lasts longer.... But yes, Lexus' touchpad interface sucks.
Well..of the 10's of owners of Sony phones, we now know the identity of 1 of them. Who can claim they know of 10% of all the owners of 1 brand of phones outside of CL? We are special.
Sonys are made in Mexico, just like (some of the?) Fords.
Just to keep a little car related topic
I was pleasantly surprised,. after buying a used Lexus, to find that many OE parts are made in Japan...I really didn't know anything was made there anymore....I would be curious to know where the rotors are made, I have a pair of used boxes in my garage and could check (selling dealer returned the old rotors in the Lexus boxes)....
So the moral of the story I get is that SONY was once a powerhouse Japanese brands. I guess the same thing can happen to Lexus/Toyota as what happened to SONY
06-29-17, 10:43 AM
Sony S2
