Today I’m mourning the loss of a great company, Lik-Sang, who are closing their doors. Sony has taken Lik-Sang to court in London and Hong Kong as they are selling Asian and American products to other areas of the world. Sony claim that:
ultimately, we’re trying to protect consumers from being sold hardware that does not conform to strict EU or UK consumer safety standards, due to voltage supply differences et cetera; is not - in PS3’s case - backwards compatible with either PS1 or PS2 software; will not play European Blu-Ray movies or DVDs; and will not be covered by warranty
Of course, Lik-Sang make this perfectly clear to their customers, but it’s also worth pointing out that the PSP, for example, actually comes with a Sony-made power adaptor that works from 100-220V… so how would that be a problem?
Lik-Sang also points out that four of Sony’s top directors have repeatedly got their Sony PSP hard or software imports in nicely packed Lik-Sang parcels with free Lik-Sang Mugs or Lik-Sang Badge Holders, starting just two days after Japan’s official release, as early as 14th of December 2004 (more than nine months earlier than the legal action).
I’ve used Lik-Sang myself, my most important purchase being a Japanese Nintendo DS, which I received way before the release date in Europe. I just find it very ironic that Sony has killed off Lik-Sang but won’t release the PS3 in Europe until next year, months later than in Japan and the US and it’ll probably be sold out for months anyway as Sony aren’t producing enough units due to the included Blu-Ray drive, which most people don’t want anyway. Personally, I’m never touching anything Sony make with a barge pole, not after the ridiculously expensive PS3 (and it’s other problems), the self-made standards that Sony try to impose on the market, the 2005 Sony CD copy protection scandal and the exploding battery problem!
Mostly, I feel bad for the company and the people who work there, who are now out of business and can no longer sell their products to the hundreds of countries where Sony (and other Electronics manufacturers) simply don’t sell their products.