Sony Takes On Apple's iPod

Sony Corp. vowed Thursday to fight iPod's domination in portable digital music players by featuring superior sound quality and simple music downloads that won't require a computer.

The latest upgrades of Walkman digital music players and an Internet-linking audio console called NetJuke are aimed at raising market share first in Japan, said Hiroshi Yoshioka, a Sony executive overseeing the audio equipment business.

The marketing blitz set to start here later this month will highlight the Japanese electronics and entertainment company's sound technology and expertise in household appliances that it hopes may counter Apple Computer Inc.'s weaknesses in those areas, he said.

"In one sense, the products are competing against the iPod, but in another sense they are more about Sony's strengths," said Yoshioka.

Since going on sale in 2001, NetJuke, which connects to a Japanese music download site similar to Apple's iTunes, has been sold only in Japan. It won't be offered overseas this year but may be sold later, according to Sony.

The latest models, with 80 gigabytes and 250 gigabytes hard disk drive, feature a simplified connection to the Walkman. Price from 65,000 yen (US$540; euro430) to 100,000 yen (US$840; euro670), they also have software that groups stored tunes by analyzing notes and rhythms to suit listeners' moods.

Some of the latest Walkman models can erase surrounding noise to deliver superior sound, while another is waterproof for use while exercising. They will all be sold abroad.

Sony officials acknowledged they had lost to the iPod, not only in overseas markets but also in Japan.

The iPod commands top market share in Japan, with some research putting its share at about half or higher. Sony has only recently pushed its market share in Japan to about 20 percent, company officials said.

Sony, which has been tackling a turnaround for more than a year, has recently succeeded in boosting global market share in flat-panel TVs, where it had also fallen behind rivals.

To catch up in music players, Sony needs to appeal to people who don't use personal computers to download and store music, marketing executive Kiyoshi Shikano said.

Sony has signed British rock group Oasis to appear in advertising to appeal to an older crowd, he said.

Shikano acknowledged the heyday days of CD and MD players, which Sony long dominated, are over. Shipment of digital music players in Japan has tripled from 1.9 million in 2004 to 6.1 million, comprising 83 percent of the Japanese portable music player market, he said.