It's been very tough for Sony Corp. (NYSE:SNE): a recall of laptop batteries, as well as delays in the launch of the PlayStation 3.
In fact, despite its rich history as a leader in digital technologies, Sony has been a laggard in the revolution in online video. So this year, back n August, the company purchased a video site, Grouper. Actually, in light of Google, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GOOG) deal for YouTube, the purchase was fairly cheap – only $65 million.
It does look like a smart move. For example, Sony is developing a new channel, "Screen Bites." Basically, the company is leveraging Sony's valuable film library.
Now, the cool thing is that users can take these clips and do mash-ups. Users can also put the clips on their own web pages on MySpace or blogs.
Business model? Well, the hope is that users will eventually start buying the full version of the content. This is a bit of a stretch, but if Grouper can get a ton of traffic, the strategy can work.
And, here's one of the copyrighted videos, you're going to like, I promise:
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Financial Statemet. He also has a blog at www.taulli.com.
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