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Sony just shot itself in the foot, and the wound is self-inflicted. The company’s new Xperia 1 VII comes with a Monitor & Control App that allows the phone to act as a remote viewfinder for Sony’s Alpha cameras, one of the key selling points for Sony’s smartphones, especially among Alpha users.
Here’s where things get ridiculous. The new app replaces the External Monitor app, which has always been free to use. But with the latest update, Sony is locking the feature behind a Sony Xperia paywall of $4.99 per month.
This move feels like corporate suicide. Sony has built one of the most robust ecosystems in tech, connecting their smartphones, cameras, and professional equipment seamlessly. Yet instead of leveraging this advantage, they’re actively weakening it.
It’s like Apple deciding to lock features like Handoff or Sidecar behind a paywall. These ecosystem integrations aren’t just nice-to-have features, they’re the entire reason people buy into a particular brand’s family of products. When you start charging extra for the glue that holds your ecosystem together, you give customers fewer reasons to stay loyal.
Users on Reddit are already complaining about the Sony Xperia paywall. Companies like Apple and Samsung succeed because their devices work better together than apart. When Sony starts charging monthly fees for that integration, they’re essentially telling customers to shop elsewhere.
The post Sony’s $5 Monthly Paywall for Xperia Features Is Pure Self-Sabotage appeared first on Phandroid.
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Here’s where things get ridiculous. The new app replaces the External Monitor app, which has always been free to use. But with the latest update, Sony is locking the feature behind a Sony Xperia paywall of $4.99 per month.
This move feels like corporate suicide. Sony has built one of the most robust ecosystems in tech, connecting their smartphones, cameras, and professional equipment seamlessly. Yet instead of leveraging this advantage, they’re actively weakening it.
It’s like Apple deciding to lock features like Handoff or Sidecar behind a paywall. These ecosystem integrations aren’t just nice-to-have features, they’re the entire reason people buy into a particular brand’s family of products. When you start charging extra for the glue that holds your ecosystem together, you give customers fewer reasons to stay loyal.
Users on Reddit are already complaining about the Sony Xperia paywall. Companies like Apple and Samsung succeed because their devices work better together than apart. When Sony starts charging monthly fees for that integration, they’re essentially telling customers to shop elsewhere.
The post Sony’s $5 Monthly Paywall for Xperia Features Is Pure Self-Sabotage appeared first on Phandroid.
More...
