Sony - over the hill ?

Sometimes I wonder if the marquee consumer electronics manufacturer, Sony, has peaked and is fast approaching also-ran status. A long string of bad news has been associated with Sony in recent weeks :

- Sony is expected to post a net US$90m loss for this fiscal year.
- Sony lost its place as the premier consumer electronics brand to Samsung.
- In a gigantic PR misstep, Sony sought to protect its intellectual property by secretly installing a digital rights management system from CDs purchased by consumers which utilitises techniques commonly employed by spyware to avoid detection. Furthermore, virus makers are now exploiting this hidden software to launch their own malicious code.
- Last and definitely not least, Sony surrendered its lead in the portable audio market to Apple by refusing initially to support MP3 as a standard in its Walkman range of portable audio products.