The Sony Corporation is one of the leading manufacturers of electronic products for the consumer and professional markets. Sony is Ranked 87th on the 2012 list of Fortune Global 500. The company is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Sony is among the Worldwide Top 20 Semiconductor Sales Leaders and third-largest television manufacturer in the world, after Samsung Electronics and LG electronics.
Sony Corporation is the electronics business unit and the parent company of the Sony Group; it was founded by Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka. Sony predicts that it will suffer a $1.1 billion loss due to announced reforms.
It has been reported that the Sony Corporation will split its TV division off into a separate company by July 2014. This new restructuring plan, according to Reuters, will cut 5,000 jobs. The job cuts are to be in effect by March 2015, and will include its TV and PC divisions. The PC division will be sold to investment fund Japan Industrial Partners. The PC business produces notebooks under the Vaio brand.
Los Angeles-based Todd Lowenstein, fund manager at High Mark Capital Management Inc., wrote in an e-mail, “the TV segment and selling the PC business are steps in the right direction to unlock value.” A spokesman for Sony in the U.S., John Dolak, didn’t respond to a phone call or e-mail requesting comment. A representative for Sony in Japan didn’t respond to an e-mail sent as well.
Bloomberg News has reported that Sony Chief Executive Officer Kazuo Hirai also stated that he hasn’t ruled out a divestiture of the TV division in the future after receiving “various offers.”
According to Goyal of Jefferies, Sony’s management announcement last week signals at least somewhat of a shift in the company’s attitude toward the electronics business. According to reports by Bloomberg News the stock closed at 1,691 yen last week. Sony American depositary receipts advanced 3.9 percent to $16.52.
Sony has historically been notable for creating its own in-house standards for new recording and storage technologies, instead of adopting those of other manufacturers and standards bodies. Sony has also introduced several of the most popular recording formats, including the floppy disk, Compact Disc, and Blu-ray Disc. The PlayStation 4 game console, sold more than4.2 million units in the first six weeks after its release, outpacing competing machines from Microsoft Corp. and Nintendo Co.
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