Sony Live 2006: Walkman accessories
After coming out fighting at CES with a huge stand and several rather neat products Sony is now focussing on Europe. In Lisbon this week it unveiled its range for this year to both dealers and journalists. There’s shed loads of new stuff including some rather sexy products which, alas, are under embargo. Here though are a few of the highlights we can talk about.
First up Sony is claiming that its latest MP3 Walkmans, the NW-A100 and NW-A300 have clawed some of the ground back between it an Apple. December figures for UK sales apparently show Sony with 14% market share – still way behind Apple but clear of rivals like Creative and Philips.
Sony is also starting to introduce accessories for its players beginning with this mini recharger / hi-fi stand. According to Sony staff the CPA-NW001 is a top-end product, more akin to the Bose system for the iPod than any of its cheaper rivals. It has a very powerful output of 2x25Watts, and FM radio and an audio line out. It’ll sell for £180 in June. There’s also a version for Sony Ericsson Walkman phones too.
Incidentally Sony is claiming that the music playing market – which is worth around £800 million in the UK will continue to grow for at least one year. Sony does expect the market to slow down by 2008 with music playing phones taking sales away from standalone players.
