Mediaholic

As expected nobody is buying Movies released on Sony's UMD, because nobody wishes to pay several times for the same content. An article titled Sony‘s Universal Media Disc facing last rites, published by the Hollywood Reporter, concludes that the days of the PSP as a movie watching device are numbered. Here is a quote:

"No one‘s watching movies on PSP," said the president of one of the six major studios‘ home entertainment divisions. "It‘s a game player, period."

Obviously the UMD as a format for publishing movies is dying or even maybe is dead already, but does it actually mean that the PSP is a failure as a movie watching device? As the article itself suggests:

"I think a lot of people are ripping content and sticking it onto the device rather than purchasing," he said. (this is Benjamin Feingold, president of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment).

So for all those Sony executives that are blinded by the propsects of controlling this new market and therefore are not willing to listen to consumers here is the real deal behind this failure, spelled out so that even they can understand it. The PSP as a movie watching device can succeed, and the success is indeed related to content, without which the device is useless for movies. However, you will NOT get away with selling the same content over and over again in different formats. People are fed up with it, they will NOT re-purchase their collection over and over again. Of-course they will rip their DVDs, what do you expect? They bought it already, and if you can't get that then Sony's products will continue to flop in the marketplace.

The solution is simple, instead of trying to control the world, let the PSP take its own course, open up the platform (maybe run Opera Mini on it?) and allow any Internet content to be easily accessible on it and you will be amazed by the results. Take advantage of the fact that the PSP has WiFi and the iPod Video is still lacking it (for how long though? you must act quickly!) to make it an always connected device so that one will need not synch their device in order to access content on the go. Make it possible to play live Internet streams such as radio and TV stations (which the iPod video cannot do). Make it UPnP AV compatible so that people can access the content from their home network throughout the house and with media servers like TVersity even access live and on demand Internet content and I guarantee the sales of this device will double overnight.

If Sony is serious in beating Apple in the mobile video market then the above may just do it for the near term. If Sony would like to beat Apple in the mobile gadget market in the longer term and go beyond video, then more is needed. There are clear indications in the market that there is a room for a mobile, always-connected device with a larger screen than a cellphone and with Internet capabilities (including the ability to handle audio, video and images), the PSP can and should be it. Some say it is a niche market, in contrast I think it will become mainstream in a few years and will be disruptive for cellphones because of its ability to do VOIP on the go. What are the market indications I am talking? The Nokia 770 with its "unexpected" success is one, and the Origami initiative from Microsoft is another (the first generation of those devices is a huge disappointment of-course and taking into account Microsoft track record so will the second and third generations be, but the point here is that Microsoft did a lot of research indicating that people want it, and this represents a huge opportunity).

So what does Sony need to do to make it happen? Learn from Nokia! Open up the platform and let anyone develop applications for it. Combining the open approach taken by Nokia, with the coolness factor of the PSP, will position Sony as the most likely winner of this new market and eventually as mobile VOIP goes mainstream, the number one company for mobile devices with cellphone companies included.

So what is going to happen now? Nothing, Sony will probably not listen to any of this and will continue to self destruct...