Sony's Howard Stringer Talks Up "New" TV Approach

If Apple isn't going to reinvent the TV market, who is? Maybe it's Sony, despite the company seemingly backing off of efforts in recent years. According to a new Wall Street Journal article, Sony CEO Howard Stringer recently stated that his company is developing a "new kind" of TV. He also stated that "TV manufacturers, driven by their desire to rack up market share, have bred an intensely competitive market. As a result, they are scrambling to come up with a new generation of TV sets that will separate them from the pack and command premium prices" He didn't discuss specifics, but added: "There's a tremendous amount of R&D going into a different kind of TV set."

When asked, he confirmed that there was "no doubt" that Steve Jobs was also working on revolutionizing the TV. Howard make quite the shocking statement with this: "We can't continue selling TV sets [the way we have been]. Every TV set we all make loses money."


What's next for TVs? Who knows. So long as the arcane pay-TV infrastructure remains in power, it'll be nigh impossible for TV makers to truly revolutionize the industry. A TV will simply be a TV without a special new interface. And if Apple can't pull it off... Good luck, Sony!