Sony sees software subscription as future for data-analysing image sensors

The Japanese conglomerate hopes customers will subscribe to its sensor software service through monthly fees or licensing, much like how gamers buy a PlayStation console and then pay for software or subscribe to online services. — Reuters

TOKYO: Sony Corp's image sensor business aims to replicate PlayStation's success to address its reliance on a handful of manufacturers in the fickle smartphone market: It plans to sell software by subscription for data-analysing sensors in situ.

Transforming the light-converting chips into a platform for software – essentially akin to the PlayStation Plus video games service – amounts to a sea change for the US$10bil (RM42.87bil) business, which built its dominance through hardware breakthroughs.