Sunday, January 30, 2022

Sony Terminates Walkman

 Futuring and Innovation Unit 3 Individual Project



Futuring and Innovation Unit 3 Individual Project

When a company or an industry does not do proper scenario-type planning and only relies on standard forecasting, it can significantly impact the planning support and the innovation for the change. This is a case study of the Sony Walkman. The forces that were involved and the impact that was made will be discussed. Sony made a mistake when using standard forecasting and not scenario-type planning (Anonymous, 2010). Because of this, the market share fell. Apple shares were in the lead. When working through scenario planning, everyone involved needs to know that the future is uncertain and impossible to know. Predictions can be made. Scenarios are not predictions. Scenarios are a way that the future may go. There are a number of driving forces that can make significant impacts on forces for a company happens through the use of brainstorming.

The main form of listening to music in the 1960s was on vinyl records. Cassette player technology did exist at this time, but it was not until 1979 that the portable cassette player took off. The Walkman was lightweight and had its first introduction to the Japanese market (Anonymous, 2010). It was used with lightweight headphones and cost around $150. The device was sold out in a matter of three months. From 2001 to 2009, Apple sold 160 million units for the iPod.

In the 1990s, digital music files and compact disks were developed. The quality of these made the cassette player's existence void. The first MP3 player was created in 1998 by Saehan Information Systems. Sony did adopt the technologies and created other versions of the Walkman but did not do what the Walkman did. iPod took over the market in 2001. Steve Jobs improved mp3 players with broadband download speeds and more extensive storage. Apple iPods became more successful by the integration of iTunes music management software (Anonymous, 2010)

Scenario planning can create opportunities in the future for innovations through exploring uncertainties imagining alternative outcomes and can assist in leading to alternative futures. A scenario plan does account for the social impact of change because new technologies will be introduced into a society that can and will have a way that people see the world around them. It can create significant advances and propel technology even more forward.  

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References

 

Anonymous. (2010, 2010 Oct 25

2021-09-20). Sony Terminates Walkman. Informationweek - Online. https://coloradotech.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/trade-journals/sony-terminates-walkman/docview/759856958/se-2?accountid=144789

 

 

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