Sony and Microsoft are familiar competitors, with every generation of gaming sparking a new debate over the superior console. While the “console-war” has existed for close to twenty years, Microsoft and Sony also make an appearance in the Edge Computing sector, with their strategies in the space making sense given their approaches to the soon-to-be-released next-gen consoles. Microsoft is firmly in the lead in edge computing, with thirty-two (32) patent documents in the past ten years and almost half of those being granted patents. In comparison, Sony only has four (4) patent documents with none being issued patents. 

A noticeable trend occurs in the recent patent applications by Microsoft that highlights its focus on streaming content (such as its gaming service xCloud) by utilizing edge computing to reduce latency. One such example is a patent granted earlier this year (U.S. Patent No. 10554713) that teaches low latency streaming using temporal frame transformation. In comparison, Sony’s most recent patent application which was published just under two weeks ago (U.S. Patent Publication No. 20200304422) teaches of managing services utilizing an edge computing host and management entity. While both companies are very large and have edge computing goals outside of their gaming uses, it is interesting to see the trend in Microsoft’s applications that may lend toward its vision for the new Xbox consoles. It also will be interesting to see the development of the competition between Sony’s Playstation Now service and Microsoft’s xCloud. In order for Sony to prevail, it may need to develop a more significant presence in the Edge Computing sector in order to catch up with Microsoft.

As always to see more about the fascinating competitions and new companies joining the Edge Computing sector use the Magic Number® Edge Computing Patent Forecast®.