Rarely does a company the size of Sony suck up their pride and admit that they made a huge mistake with a certain product line. I don't see much of this kind of thing coming from American companies, but I have read much about certain Japanese firms cutting back on the ego and making an admission.

Ken Kutaragi, president of Sony Computer Entertainment, was direct in admitting that the choice of supporting only the proprietary ATRAC3 format hurt the sales of Sony's portable music player products. There is no doubt that the MP3 format is the predominant music format today, and releasing a consumer product without support for the major player in music formats is the equivalent of sales suicide.

Sony's technology innovation had been "diluted", Mr Kutaragi said.

"We have to concentrate on our original nature - challenging and creating," he said.

Once the powerhouse of global electronics, with success exemplified by its Walkman, Sony has lost some of its glamour lately, losing out in profitability and market share to cheaper Asian rivals.

I've always liked the stylishness and creative designs of some Sony products -- perhaps now that the company might be changing its stance on things, I might be able to seriously consider Sony for when I buy a portable music player in the next =< 6 months.