The Japanese Perspective on the Sony vs. Apple Battle

An article on the Japan Today Web site details the fight in Japan between Appleis iPod and Sonyis latest iteration of its Network Walkman. According to the writer, the iPod mini holds over 50 percent of the market share in Japan, with customers ranging from teens to businessmen in their 50s. The iTunes Music Store isnit available yet in that country, which a Sony spokesperson plays up despite the writeris observation that "Japanese users have not easily embraced the Internet download system."

Sonyis online music service is known as Mora, which encodes tunes in the companyis proprietary ATRAC3 format, which is compatible with some cell phones as well as Sonyis Network Walkman and other portable devices. The article quotes an Apple marketing spokesperson as saying: "Sure, Sony pioneered the Walkman, but nowadays, we donit even consider them a competitor."

You can read more on the Japan Today Web site.