Sony
to cut TV, smartphone lineup; sees growth in
PlayStation, image sensors
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[November 25, 2014]
By Reiji Murai
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's loss-making Sony
Corp plans to slash its TV and mobile phone product line-ups to cut
costs, counting on multi-billion dollar revenue surges for its buoyant
PlayStation 4 and image sensor businesses over the next three years.
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Having lost ground to nimbler rivals like Apple Inc and Samsung
Electronics Co Ltd in consumer electronics, Sony said on Tuesday its
goal for TV and smartphones is to turn a profit, even if sales slide
as much as 30 percent.
"We're not aiming for size or market share but better profits,"
Hiroki Totoki, Sony's newly appointed chief of its mobile division
told an investors' conference. A poor showing by its Xperia
smartphones has weighed heavily on recent earnings and Sony said
more detail on plans for the unit will be unveiled before end-March.
With cost cuts on the way in some divisions, Sony is also not
planning to renew its FIFA soccer sponsorship contract next year,
people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Under its new three-year electronics business plan, Sony said it was
aiming to boost sales for its videogame division by a quarter to as
much as 1.6 trillion yen ($13.6 billion). It said that will be
helped by personalized TV, video and music distribution services
that should lift revenue per paying user.
At its devices division, which houses its image sensor business,
Sony said sales could increase 70 percent to as much as 1.5 trillion
yen. Sony's sensor sales are already robust, with Apple using them
in its iPhones while Chinese handset manufacturers are increasingly
adopting them.
In a similar event last week for its entertainment units, the
conglomerate said it was aiming to lift its movie and TV programming
revenues by a third over the next three years.
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Shares in Sony finished 6 percent higher on hopes that the new
measures show a greater sense of restructuring urgency, while the
Nikkei 225 index rose 0.3 percent.
"There's a lot of expectation for Sony now, but nothing is sure
until there are results," said Ichiyoshi Asset Management chief fund
manager Akino Mitsushige. "Getting out of the mobile market is an
option, but they can't do that now, so they will need to make some
fundamental changes."
(Additional reporting by Edwina Gibbs and Teppei Kasai; Editing by
Kenneth Maxwell)
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