Sony Says It's an IPod Killer, Not Just Another Walkman

Last week Apple and Sony launched new personal digital audio players to very different repsonses. While the iPod nano received almost universal acclaim, the new Sony Walkman line seemed to get lost in the noise. The New York Times writes that Sony believes the Walkman can challenge Apple for supremacy, but first must prove it can succeed in its home market, Japan.

John Yang at Standard & Poor's said, "They want to make sure they capture Japan first. Sony is not in such a hurry to market this overseas."

According to Japanese market researcher, BCN, Apple had a 39.4 percent share of the Japanese market for portable digital music players in August. Sony remained a distant second with a 16.5 percent. The article states "Japan is either the second- or third-largest market in the world for portable music players, accounting for about 5 percent to 10 percent of the global market."

Michael McGuire, a Gartner analyst said, "Japan is an extremely important market. You are in the epicenter of the whole digital device industry, and the backyard of the companies that invented the industry."

The article outlines some of the past problems and challenges Sony faces in Japan, including its late start, software issues and higher pricing. As Hiroshi Takada at J. P. Morgan noted, "Sony has a chance to catch iPod, but the hurdles are high."