Sony Beats Apple In Sheer Numbers, Walkman Outsells iPod For One Month

Even in Japan, where Sony's name is synonymous with many different gadgets and pieces of technology, as well as people's lives in general, Apple plays a huge roll. So, when news breaks that Sony has officially managed to outsell Apple in their Personal Media Player line, even for just a month, our ears perk up. According to researchers at BCN, that's exactly what has happened. But, of course, while the news is great for Sony, there's plenty of reasons to think it's a short-term effect.

According to the new report, Sony's players like the basic S640 made it possible for Sony to creep up the ladder, and ultimately out-sell Apple for one month. As they put it, it basically just comes down to numbers, and the variety and price variation that Sony offers may have just caught up with Apple. In the month of August, Sony racked up 47.8 percent of sales, while Apple fell to 44 percent. While the 8GB and 16GB iPod Nano were still the top sellers, it's the fact that Sony had so many offerings, that they managed to beat out Apple by numbers.

This event actually happened a year ago, too, which has the researchers believing that Apple's refresh cycle has something to do with the phenomena. Since Sony is in its mid-cycle right about now, with no new hardware to announce and show off (and ultimately tease customers into waiting for "what's coming"), the company was safe to sell what's on the retail shelves now. Apple, though, typically refreshes their hardware in September, so that may have made people wait to see what was coming around the corner. Will Sony ever be able to reclaim the thrown in their home country? It's a tough call, but we can't help but root for the underdog (at least for a little while).

[via iPodnn]