Sony Puts AIBO Robot Dog to Sleep

By Nate Mook | Published January 26, 2006, 2:46 PM

While surprising analysts by reporting that third quarter fiscal year 2005 sales and profits had jumped to all-time highs, Sony's restructuring has not been without casualties: the company has ceased developing its AIBO and QRIO robots, and will halt all sales by the end of this quarter.

The product cancellations come as Sony attempts to cut costs and focus on areas where it dominates, such as LCD televisions. Sony's Bravia TV line has captured 30 percent market share worldwide. The electronics maker also plans to stop production of plasma televisions and in-car entertainment products in Japan. PlayStation 2 sales, meanwhile, remained high in the quarter and Sony offered no indication as to when it will launch the PS3.

Comments

View comments by with a score of at least

Don't worry they'll just end up at the dump right next to those sony tv's.

Score: 0

|

Sony will support it till end of last product life.

So if the last batch came with 1-yr warranty.

Assume they will support the product for another 2 years.

Score: 0

|

I wonder what happens now to all the people who purchased one? Support-wise I mean.....God forbit you pay hundreds for something and a part goes loose/breaks....after they chop it.

Score: 0

|

Oh well, now if they'd only do that with that irritating Energizer Bunny ;-)

Score: 0

|

This sucks! Not that I could afford one anyway, but if I had a lot of money to through away I would have liked an AIBO. Oh well.

Score: 0

|

*yawn*

I put my computer to sleep several times a day when I'll not be using it for a while. takes less power that way.

Good of Sony to start thinking green(tm).

Probably cuts down on the incescant barking as well.

Score: 0

|

is good that sony's focusing on areas that really matter ..... seriously tho, who needs a robot dog ???

Score: 0

|

Heartless. Just what you expect from Sony.

More info at http://www.digitalworldt.../01/heartless_sony.html

Score: 0

|

eeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Score: 0

|

Google's value proposition for Chrome OS: Should we feel insulted?

For a search engine that has direct access to all the world's online history, it appears to have taught Google nothing about selling a machine.

Sony looks to finally open a single storefront for downloads

Sony has had many different download portals for movies, music, e-books, and games, and now it's looking to make a single shop for all of it.

PDC 2009: What have we learned this week?

There was the freebie that no one will forget, the heebie-jeebies courtesy of Scott Guthrie, and a teensy bit clearer picture of how this cloud thingie should work.

Tuning out the tablet: Time to give the endless speculation a rest

Wide Angle Zoom: Wishing and hoping and thinking and praying....won't put an iTablet on the market.

Microsoft's .NET Micro Framework is now free and open source

The latest version of Microsoft's .NET Micro framework is now in the hands of the FOSS community.

E-book readers will be in short supply this holiday season

E-readers are hot this year, and a lot of compelling new products have been released, but are there enough electrophoretic displays to go around?

Five improvements for IT managers in 2010

If businesses are to improve their efficiency for next year, they need to stop and reassess the basic tenets of their job.

Live report: Will Google Chrome OS change Linux?

The mysteries of just what Chrome OS is, and how much of an operating system it truly is, may be resolved today.

AOL's spinoff from Time Warner to shed 2,500 jobs

As AOL moves toward become an independent company again, it will cut nearly a third of its workforce.

PDC 2009: Microsoft cares about Web browser performance

The effort to give users of the world's dominant Web browser the impression of quality, is a personal one for the man who leads that battle.

Nokia re-affirms its commitment to Symbian, sort of

Maemo won't necessarily be replacing Symbian in the Nokia N-Series, but that's definitely a place where it will be found.