Why doesn't Sony have a movie rental service on the PSN?

[Snah]

I don't understand why Sony doesn't have this yet. They have Blu-Ray, they have individual rentals, and they have downloadable purchases on the PSN...

But they do not have a rental service...you know, pay $15 / month or whatever and rent whatever you wish.

It seems like Sony, being a studio and having longstanding business in this arena, would be one of the first ones to offer such a service on their Playstation 3's.

So, the only question is, why? They could seriously compete with NetFlix in this area given the rising userbase of the PS3. They could even offer the service on their Blu-Ray players. They could even make it better than NetFlix by offering a better library of movies. So why don't they?

Subscription based models are lucrative, and I don't see it necessarily competing directly with Blu-Ray. For instance, I'd like to pay for such a service to casually watch movies that I don't necessarily have any intention on buying, while simultaneously purchasing movies on Blu-Ray if I loved them in the theatre and want them in the best possible quality.

Perhaps licensing is an issue, but wouldn't there be a way to give studios a cut of each month based upon individual user usage data?

[Sylin]

Two words: Market Share.

You've got Netflix, Amazon Unbox, Blockbuster Online, and the ever-popular RedBox machines at grocery/convenience stores all over the place. These companies, especially Netflix, have pretty much carved out all the rental market share available right now.

Just look at Netflix's shareholder reports. Their earnings are solid, but their growth expectations have fallen considerably. With as long as they've been around, anyone who is interested in using their service is using it by now.

So, if Sony wanted to enter into a subscriber-based rental service, they'd not only need to develop a system, get whatever legal permissions and licenses necessary to stream films from other studios beyond their own, and then advertise the service everywhere, but they'd be competing against firmly-entrenched businesses while offering no real value-added services or advantages. Not a smart move.

If anything, they need to do what Xbox and TiVo are doing, which is enabling Netflix streaming on-demand. But I doubt they will. Their focus is on encouraging consumers to buy into Blu-ray. Downloadable movies are a distant second, which explains why that aspect of PSN is so thin.

[Snah]

Originally Posted by Sylin

Two words: Market Share.

You've got Netflix, Amazon Unbox, Blockbuster Online, and the ever-popular RedBox machines at grocery/convenience stores all over the place. These companies, especially Netflix, have pretty much carved out all the rental market share available right now.

Just look at Netflix's shareholder reports. Their earnings are solid, but their growth expectations have fallen considerably. With as long as they've been around, anyone who is interested in using their service is using it by now.

So, if Sony wanted to enter into a subscriber-based rental service, they'd not only need to develop a system, get whatever legal permissions and licenses necessary to stream films from other studios beyond their own, and then advertise the service everywhere, but they'd be competing against firmly-entrenched businesses while offering no real value-added services or advantages. Not a smart move.

If anything, they need to do what Xbox and TiVo are doing, which is enabling Netflix streaming on-demand. But I doubt they will. Their focus is on encouraging consumers to buy into Blu-ray. Downloadable movies are a distant second, which explains why that aspect of PSN is so thin.

This isn't really true at all. There's plenty of room for Sony to carve out their own successful service.

First, Sony may not have marketshare in the rental space, but they do have market presence, particularly since they are selling, perhaps, the best multimedia device on the market, and one that many people currently have, and where MANY more people will have in the future. It's a great go-to device for everything. That's what Sony is currently marketing it as, and it's something that consumers would gravitate towards on the system if it were offered.

This is an easy in -- a trojan horse if you will -- for a premier rental service.

And just because NetFlix is predicting flat growth doesn't mean the same would hold true for Sony. Sony hasn't even tried tapping that market yet, while NetFlix has. Sony could certainly stand to gain marketshare if they had a PS3 service, while NetFlix could stand to lose. It's called competition.

And while Sony is certainly pushing Blu-Ray, they're not pushing it exclusively. They understand there are different markets out there. It would be foolish to ignore those markets simply because they are pushing a different market.

A PSN rental service is a no brainer at this point, and if they can manage to get a better library than NetFlix, then they stand to gain a WHOLE LOT. I know I'd sign up.

[Shin-Ra]

PSN subforum is up that way ^^^

[Sylin]

Originally Posted by Snah

This isn't really true at all.

According to whom? I stated factual information based upon market reports and investor data--the accurate predictors for how successful companies will be in a given market.

Originally Posted by Snah

There's plenty of room for Sony to carve out their own successful service.

Please re-read my post, and do some research of your own.

Logic tells us that every entertainment market is finite--that is, there are only so many consumers willing to put cash into it. If every competitor in a given market is experiencing stagnant or sluggish growth, that market is TAPPED. Growth, if any, will be extremely slow, and the primary way to gain market share is to back your retention efforts with marketing to sway customers away from your competitors.

Originally Posted by Snah

First, Sony may not have marketshare in the rental space, but they do have market presence

One does not beget the other. Dell has tremendous presence in the PC market. But you don't see them developing their own consumer-oriented operating system to go head-to-head with MS or Apple. Why? Because there's no profitability there! Even the dozens of Linux variations, which are FREE, can barely capture single-digit penetration.

Originally Posted by Snah

And just because NetFlix is predicting flat growth doesn't mean the same would hold true for Sony.

Actually, that's exactly what it means.

Originally Posted by Snah

A PSN rental service is a no brainer at this point, and if they can manage to get a better library than NetFlix, then they stand to gain a WHOLE LOT. I know I'd sign up.

They already have a rental service! It's just not the buffet style subscription service you're wanting, which won't happen anytime soon for the reasons outlined above. Sony is going the iTunes route by offering pay-per-view rentals and digital buys, and it's already available.

[Maximus]

PSN is not complete by any means...

[garlad]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

PSN is not complete by any means...

i.e. plenty more to come?? Suppose it is inevitable that it will continue to grow and offer more services.

[xtop]

Originally Posted by garlad

i.e. plenty more to come?? Suppose it is inevitable that it will continue to grow and offer more services.

now what would give you that idea

even without max basically telling us to expect a lot more from the psn. who isn't expecting..among other things..rental services, both game and movie?

[Marine Mike]

I'm still expecting/praying for a PS2 game download service.


Theres just so much money to be had out there and I'm more than confident that Sony is aware of it.

[ps3andlovinit]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

PSN is not complete by any means...

Max, any idea what is happening in Canada in regards to a movie store? We are planning to move to the UK next summer ... just curious about the interim.

[Groo The Perverted]

Not sure if anyone has mentioned this, but why couldn't Sony simply say "after the current deal runs out Netflix/Blockbuster will no longer be able to offer our films on their mailing ventures"

So that way Netflix and Blockbuster's mail service will no longer be able to offer Sony films or any of their subsidiary.

Then they can simply start supplying their films strictly through the downloading service via the PSN and in store only options with Blockbuster/other movie stories.

So they would still be getting all their income from the stores, only not from Netflix, but they'd be setting up their own service on the PSN.

*shrugs* Maybe this is ridiculous but it's a thought anyway.