SONY

It's kind of like Apple but cooler

Someone I work with shared with me a video of man’s search for his Mountain Dew. His Sony gaming lifestyle wouldn’t sync unless his drink was in hand. This video was 11 years ago.

I have blocked out Sony from my mind as I kept wanting to buy it but never did. Looking at the data, should I reconsider?

11 years ago Sony was $12 a share. It’s now trading around $88 (7x return)

Apple was about $24 a share and now about $160 (7x return)

Well, that is interesting. My older daughter is older and she feels the Nintendo is for kids as her younger siblings are hogging the consuls so I decided to splurge on the Sony for her enjoyment, it has a DVD player and streaming, and apparently the games are not just for geeks but allow from what I heard a cinema mode. So it’s kind of interactive along with a narrative. And, lastly, I just saw John Wick 4 which was grand, but it most definitely gave me the feeling I was in a action arcade as opposed to cinema. I feel the trends are changing so might as well see what the trends are. Sony’s main competitor Microsoft may not be able to buy Activision which is a big win for Sony.

On another note, I always liked Sony for owning publishing and music content. If you are not aware, song catalogues are very expensive now and will be used just about everywhere. Sony’s content is most likely highly undervalued.

I am not sure why more people are not invested in Sony but it probably has to do with the cyclicality of its products and its well-known snafu of mismanaging their technology and success.

I also am not clear why the stock didn’t explode higher during 2020-2021 but Gamestop did. But it probably has to do with its conservative bent.

The company doesn’t pay a wonderful dividend and that may constraint buyers into the company. But I would most definitely put on a long term portfolio as the habits of people have changed and the gaming consul will be more prominent in households. Having Roku, AppleTV, Prime+, Hulu is nice but they are all the same product. Gaming is not and its different.

While I will not be the investors that says “hey, think of Sony’s patents” because I have no way of knowing what is valuable and what is not. But only what I can see they can use. I have found this headline interesting and bears noting:

Sony eyes NFT transfers across multiple game platforms, reveals patent

I like entertainment and if people will spend on it not counting the cost of time and money, you have a winner.

Apple and all the other big tech companies are just spending money on entertainment which is a commodity at this point. Gaming is entertainment with some skin in the game of individuality.

Have a good Sunday afternoon,

PS. I found this cartoon that summarizes changing habits to be apropo.