The LA Times reports that Apple might buy Universal Music . countenance ’s hope that this come down through , the last thing Apple should be doing right now is following Sony down the path of being part an electronics company and part a amusement company . All that does is create two conflict agendas withing the same organization . The result at Sony has been pretty much an internal polite war ; we doubt that Apple , with its position precarious enough as it is ( the company has been losing money and market contribution lately ) , will be substantial enough to weather a similar conflict .
Remember that Apple was able-bodied to make the iPod precisely because it did n’t have an amusement division to vex about . The iPod should have been a Sony product . They formulate the whole construct of portable audio players with the Walkman , but because they were worried about stimulating piracy , Apple is now the brand name most associated with MP3 players . Supposedly 25 % of MP3 players sold in Japan are iPods . This is a immense , immense disaster for Sony , and Apple would be smart to learn from their rival ’s error , not reiterate them .
It ’s all fine and good to guess that Steve Jobs can square the circle and get us all out of the impasse that has emerged in the euphony manufacture because of on-line piracy , but it ’s just not as easygoing as that . Even if Apple want Universal ’s catalog for help launch some form of inexpensive online music service , $ 5 or 6 billion is a heck of a lot of money just to get access code to about one - one-fifth of the euphony that ’s out there .
We ’re sure Sony thought something similar , that give birth an entertainment section would serve it sell more hardware . But it ’s funny how those things never turn out the direction you expect them to , and now Sony ’s entertainment division is maintain the company from doing what it does best : induce great electronics . We ’d really like to see Apple just stick to what it does well . of late that ’s been stealing Sony ’s thunder .
Read[Thanks , Rex ]
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