Sony (6758 JP) conference at the Consumer Electronic Show

Sony (6758 JP) had a conference a few days ago at the Consumer Electronics Show. At first glance I would say there are very few new features. Mostly there are upgrades of the existing line-up of products.

The most important news is the expansion of the Playstation Network offering with a commitment to have 2700 movies and 16000 TV episodes available. It was only respectively 300 and 1200 in the past. The services have expanded into Europe and as of today there are 38 million users for about 780 million pieces of content.

Other than that, Sony has announced few adjustments with the arrival of a 3-D TV in option on the new Bravia TVs. New TVs will be available from 22-60” with a majority of the models including LED backlighting and wireless connectivity. Sony has decided to change the name of the series from “X-series” to “Signature” and “Cinema” for a better appeal to customer. We will see how consumers reacts to this change but I think it should be beneficial.

There will be a new Blu-Ray players (from PS3 to 400-disk megachanger) and home theater audio systems (with monolithic design). Sony has developed a new 3 pounds VAIO PC (Type Z) and has come up with one PC made of recycled materials (Type F).

Overall the conference was disappointing with no new features. The management seems also unsure of itself. I don’t expect the stock price to really outperformance its sector. However, if other technology companies release interesting results and products, Sony could benefit from the investors’ willingness to buy technology stocks.