Having been a long time supported of the MD Format it was truly sad to hear the Sony have started to move away from their format and support MP3s. The dominance of Apple's IPOD in the portable music scene has caused Sony to re-evaluate their reliance on Mini-disc and the ATRAC3 format. Their shift to incorporate ATRAC3PLUS (as an alternative to the MP3 file format) on CD Portables was an attempt to move into the PC based music.
Although ATRAC3PLUS may have benefits in music quality compared with MP3s Sony’s entrance into the PC based music has probably come too late to make an impact.
Sony Electronics has released the first of its digital audio players
to support the popular MP3 format, marking a significant shift in its
music strategy.
As expected, the company announced in Europe two flash memory-based
devices, the Walkman NW-E99 and NW-E95, which can natively play songs
in MP3 and its own Atrac file formats. The move discussed by the
company on Monday diverges from its previous position of not
supporting MP3 because of its lack of security measures and
susceptibility to easy file sharing. However, the company has been
suffering for its stance, costing it valuable market share in the
digital audio player market to Apple Computer with its iPod hard
drive-based devices.
Sony has historically been a leader in the portable device market,
thanks to its Walkman line of tape players. However, the company
missed the boat with digital audio players, insisting that device
owners convert MP3s to the proprietary Sony format. The company is
making the change to capture a better place in the market.
Sony Electronics says it is looking to be more open in its support of
technologies, formats and standards. The company hopes to nurture the
developing world of networked devices, in which different consumer
products can play digital content sent over wired and wireless
networks.
The company also is considering the use of other formats in its
devices, according to Stan Glasgow, president of Sony Electronics
consumer and commercial sales. The look and feel of the software used
with its devices and its music download service, Sony Connect, also
will undergo major improvements.
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