Phil Molyneux, president and COO of Sony Electronics Inc, had a press conference for Japanese media Jan 7, 2011. He has been working for Sony for 20 years or more and became the president and COO of Sony Electronics Sept 1, 2010. The followings are the questions and answers raised in the conference.
Q: How about the sales of 3D TVs in the US?
Molyneux: In the year-end sales season, which is from November to December 2010, Sony acquired the largest market share in the 3D TV market. In 2010, 3D TVs became more known by consumers as the number of 3D-compatible broadcasts and movies increased.
The Handycam HDR-TD10 consumer camcorder and the Bloggie simplified camcorder, which we announced at this year's CES, will be important steps for our 3D business because these products will increase the number of contents created by consumers. I believe that 3D will considerably spread in 2011.
What is important for us is that the Handycam HDR-TD10 is the world's first 3D camcorder capable of shooting full HD video and it is made by using self-developed lens, processor, image sensor, LCD panel and so forth.
Q: You have exhibited 3D TVs viewable with the naked eye. Are you planning to commercialize them?
Molyneux: At this point, we have no plan to commercialize them. But, of course, it is possible in the future. We want to focus on products using active-shutter glasses now.
Q: How about the sales of your products compatible with Google TV?
Molyneux: We launched the Sony Internet TV in October 2010, and the sales have been solid. We will continue the development of the Sony Internet TV and expand its product line. Though other companies will follow us, we will differentiate our products with image quality, sound quality and online services like Qriocity.
Q: Are you planning to open an application market for your TVs like the one being offered by Samsung Electronics?
Molyneux: We have already employed the Yahoo! Widget Engine, which was developed by Yahoo! Inc, for our Bravia TVs. It is possible to run applications developed by others on the TVs.
Other companies emphasize that a large number of applications can be run on their TVs. But merely increasing the number of applications will not help users. What are users demanding? We would like to pursue what really benefits users.
Q: Currently, Sony is offering several online services. What are you planning to do with them?
Molyneux: In the long and medium terms, they will be integrated into PlayStation Network (PSN) and Qriocity. The contents delivery service that we are now providing for electronic book readers will also be integrated into Qriocity in the future.
Before taking the position of Sony Electronics president, I was supervising Sony's business in 21 countries in the Middle East and Europe. After coming to the US, I spent six weeks to visit dealers across the country and felt that the values of Sony's products were not correctly communicated.
In other words, I believe that Sony has a large growth potential. My goal is to make Sony the No 1 maker in the US in 2013.
