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Is Sony giving up on digital music and instead throwing its significant resources into digital video technology and video downloading services?   They have just shut down their music store; they are revealing video playing MP3 players.  Could it be?  Are they going to create a video store?

An article in the Wall Street Journal is indirectly suggesting as much.  They say CEO Howard Stringer is quietly preparing for a big move.  They hint at news to come.  A competitor to Apple’s iTunes… From Sony? One wonders.

The Journal’s story is big on speculation (fueled by potentially compromised “people close to the situation”) and light on facts.   Still,  there are more than enough  bits of innuendo and circumstantial evidence floating around to suggest the article may not be off the mark even if support is lacking.

Here is a look at a few of the reasons, arguments, and the circumstantial evidence:

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The standardization debate over format for higher capacity, high def dvd’s is still boiling and the battle lines still being drawn.  Depending on whom you ask, and what data you measure, either of the competing formats is winning.

BluRay, with about 50gb storage, is backed by, among others, Panasonic, Mitsubishi, Phillips, Pioneer, LG, Dell, HP and championed by Sony.  It has generally non-exclusive support from its affiliated movie studios like MGM, Disney, Buena vista etc.  HD DVD, with about 30gb storage capacity per disc, is backed primarily by Toshiba, Nec and Sanyo on the technology side but it has Paramount, Universal and Warner brothers (including New Line) planning to offer content.

Ultimately, consumers will determine the victor – and it will almost certainly be price and available of content, not technology that influences their decision.  

With that noted, is the holiday season’s  introduction of Sony’s newest flagship gaming platform with included Blue-ray player, the PS3, more about the gaming for the player, or the gamesmanship in industry? 

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