Sony Plans to Mimic Apple's Business Model

Sony

wants to sell consumers the most expensive products possible, including high-end tablets and an 84-inch 4K television that is unlikely to retail for

.

It might sound like overkill, but this is actually the company's strategy to become more like its California-based competitor, Apple

. This is a role-reversal for the two tech companies; not too long ago, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs wanted his firm to be more like Sony. "The whole strategy for Apple now is, if you will, to be the Sony of the computer business," Jobs told

in November 1998. During that year, Sony was one of the world's largest tech manufacturers. PlayStation, the company's first console, had become the number-one home gaming device in the world. Four years later, Jobs told

that he would, "rather compete with Sony than compete in another product category with Microsoft

." At that time, Sony had produced the number-one game console, PlayStation 2, and was only months away from releasing Spider-Man, the year's number-one film with a domestic gross of more than

. In more recent years, the Japanese tech giant has been struggling to build products that are both profitable and hugely popular. As of June 30, Sony has sold

PS Vita units, meeting the company's

. However, Apple sold

in just one quarter alone. Sony hopes that it can imitate Apple's success by selling its own brand of high-end products, starting with a $399 tablet that

Microsoft's first tablet, Surface. Phil Molyneux, the president and COO of Sony's U.S. division, told

that consumers can expect to see, "more of this great innovation at the higher end and the more premium segment." "We will put more emphasis there," he said. Sony also hopes to profit by telling the story of Apple's founder. In 2011, the company

to the authorized Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson.