Sony suddenly in the driver’s seat
Sony did something this week that it hasn’t done for more than a quarter of a century, when it launched the original PlayStation – it showed the world something inspiring. This time, it was the Sony Vision-S. A concept car.
The announcement came at the end of the company’s press event at the CES annual consumer technology showcase, where Sony also debuted the PS5 logo and an updated range of TVs.
Then bang, out of nowhere, a beautiful car rolled in from stage right. No one saw this coming.
Sadly, the car section of the presentation, easily the most interesting part, lasted only a couple of minutes. It left more questions than answers, and there was no mention of what Sony’s plans were in the automotive sector, let alone talk of a price or release date.
And this makes the chances of us seeing a Sony entering the car market pretty slim. It’s much more likely that Sony was simply showing the world what it can offer the automotive industry from its current consumer electronics arsenal of displays, speakers and cameras. Fair enough.
The puzzling thing here is that the Vision-S is one step beyond a traditional concept car in terms of design and attention to detail. Sony went to the effort of working with the automotive supplier, Magna, to create a vehicle that features working parts, such as its high-end brakes.
That sort of effort is superfluous when there are no plans for production at scale.
So why did Sony do it?
I couldn’t tell you. What I can tell you is that putting a car into mass production is massively expensive. Tesla has spent billions to get to where it is today.
Sony undoubtedly has the necessary cash reserves. But I am still doubtful that this was the real intention here. It’s much more likely that Sony made a nearly-real car to make the point that its components could improve future cars from traditional manufacturers.
I think the car industry is crying out for a technology heavyweight like Sony to mix things up. There’s certainly an appetite for more technology in cars. Just like there’s an appetite for more technology in our homes, or on our bodies, or anywhere. But consumers have been badly let down by traditional car manufacturers for the majority of the last decade.
The Vision-S shows us how well-positioned Sony is to make the car of the future. Its CMOS sensors are industry-leading and will play a vital part in the autonomous car revolution. So why not take the plunge?
It might not have to. As we move closer to battery-powered cars, it’s logical to think that the intricacies of the combustion engine will be replaced with maximising battery efficiency. And technology companies are already very good at that.
Add in the complications Lidar (light detection and ranging sensor technology), and time-of-flight sensor technologies (needed for self-driving cars) bring, and all of a sudden, assembling a car with four wheels, five seats, and a big battery seems like the easy part of car production.
Is it a stretch too far to imagine the car industry becoming more like the technology industry? Where any brand with money can pay Dyson or Tesla for a battery; Sony for CMOS sensors and infotainment system; and whoever for the relatively simple – in technological terms – motor?
Intel, Microsoft and even Apple have made billions of dollars doing the very same thing with consumer electronics.
Surely the electric car is the daddy of all consumer electronics? So why not a Sony car? Bring it on, I say.