Remember how Kaz Hirai, Sony’s executive deputy president, was asked about the possibility of a buyout of the joint venture with Ericsson, where Sony would take control of the entire smartphone operations and he danced around the entire subject, only for it to be announced days later? Well, just weeks before that, Sony was asked the same question, this time in regards to their television operations, after news broke out that Sony Manufacturing Systems, a division of Sony which makes factory equipment, will be absorbed by Sony EMCS which manufactures the company’s television sets. Well, of course, Sony went on record again and denied any further restructuring.
“I am sorry if we have given the mistaken impression that there is going to be some big announcement,” Kato said of the TV unit restructuring. “We are not thinking of doing that.”
So of course, today we have news that Sony will indeed be doing exactly that: a major TV restructuring which will hopefully allow them to better compete with South Korean rival Samsung while better fending off US-made Vizio, who famously makes lower quality TVs. Under the new plans, Sony will split their TV operations into three separate businesses. Starting on November 1st (of this year!), the three new departments will include LCD TVs, outsourcing and next-gen TV, though Sony didn’t go into further details.
“By dividing into three divisions, we will make clearer the mission and responsibilities of these,” said Sony spokeswoman Ayano Iguchi.
Sony will announce its latest earnings this Wednesday which many believe will have their TV department report its eighth straight annual loss. This also has lead many analyst to believe that Sony will aim to reach an agreement by the end of this year to sell its stake in liquid-crystal display joint venture S-LCD to Samsung, which Sony currently controls 50% of. If Sony comes to deny such reports, you can probably assume that it will happen in a matter of weeks.
Discuss:
Do you see much hope for Sony’s TV operations in the future as the industry moves towards cheaper television sets from manufacturers like Vizio? This was ultimately one of the reasons why Pioneer left the TV production business.
[Via Reuters]