Sony Corp. launches “cloud” TV service in the U.S. by the end of 2014

Sony Corp. announced its plan to launch a “Cloud” TV service until the end of 2014. The service is expected to help the company deliver live content over the Internet to its TVs and PlayStations, while its new games consoles lead over the competitive Microsofts Xbox One.

The President of Sony Computer Entertainment – Andrew House – used the opportunity provided by the Consumer Electronics Shows stage and officially announced the companys plans associated with the TV service in the U.S. And also revealed that the sales of PlayStation 4 reached 4.2 million units by the end of December. In comparison, the Microsofts Xbox reached 3 million units sold over a lightly shorter period of time.

If the Sony Corp.s efforts are crowned with success, the company will succeed where several other ones have failed by launching the fist Internet-based alternative to traditional cable and satellite broadcasters in the U.S.

Here is what Mr. House said in an interview: “We think there is an opportunity to package [a live TV service] with a reasonable amount of scale and the skill set that weve established in the area, and with elements of DVR. We think thats a fairly disruptive, and that the potential audience who would embrace it could potentially be quite large.” The President of Sony Computer Entertainment also explained that he strongly believed that the company was able to gain success with the so-called “virtual cable” service thanks to its existing relationships with content companies and large network of compatible devices already in the market, as reported by the Financial Times earlier today. Still, Mr House explained that there were “lots of discussions that still need to come to conclusion with content providers”.

Andrew House also shared that at the moment Sony Corp. has a head start over Intel thanks to its Video unlimited service. He also said: “Having been in video content distribution for the last few years, we have pre-existing relationships with many of the majors.” According to the information provided by the President of Sony Computer Entertainment, an increasing number of PS4 devices is being used for music and video services. There are 4.2 million sales of PS4s reached during the holiday sales season, compared to the Mr. Houses target of 5 million units sold by the end of March 2014.

According to Bloomberg, the current share price of Sony Corp. is 1.39% up, and its one-year return rate is 96.76% up. The Financial Times reported that the 18 analysts offering 12-month price targets for Sony Corp. have a median target of 2,050, with a high estimate of 3,200 and a low estimate of 1,600. The median estimate represents a +13.89% increase from the last price of 1,800.