Sony to announce restructuring plan on Sep 22

[Boyd Ostroff]

http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/050912/sony.html?.v=2

One area in need of repair is Sony's television unit, which lost 25.7 billion yen on an operating basis in the past business year on weak sales of traditional cathode ray tube sets and sinking prices of liquid crystal display models.

[Marius Luessi]

Ouch!

(thanks for the info...)

Marius
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[Jeffrey Brown]

i suppose that it isnt much of a shock to see their TV sector being a loss leader. if you look at most any range of their displays (projection, lcd, plasma, crt), they charge a premium for their products, even when they are comparable to products that cost one third less.

sony has been banking on their name for quite some time, and it just isn't justified anymore. other manufacturers are bringing quality items to market, and sony just doesnt have a good reason to cost more.

[Steve Nunez]

I agree with that statement 100%.
Sony always seems to feel their offerings are worth more than similar competing products.

[Ash Greyson]

The problem is China... they have gone from making crappy rip-offs to making quality electronics. I predict we see the $999 42" Plasma this Xmas.



ash =o)

[Boyd Ostroff]

I also found this part interesting:

"Having said that, withdrawal from some of its major product lines, such as stationary audio equipment, could be seen favorably in the market."

No more Sony tape decks, tuners, speakers or CD players?...

[Tim Borek]

Originally Posted by Boyd Ostroff

I also found this part interesting:

No more Sony tape decks, tuners, speakers or CD players?...

Brands like Denon and Yamaha seem to offer more bang for the buck. I don't think Sony's had much of a presence in the high-end market, but I suspect they're being squeezed out of a shrinking mid-range market. My impression is that more people are buying either (A) the crappy $150 home theater-in-a-box kits or (B) $5,000+ custom systems. I don't know about where you live, but around Indianapolis I'm seeing more and more shops that custom design home theater systems. Their vans and trucks are all over the road around here. (Where do all these wealthy people work???? If they work, that is.) People are eating that stuff up, which makes me think that HD programming and HD DVDswill be adopted more quickly than I originally expected.

Another good reason to exit the stereo component market is the growing adoption of portable digital music and the advent of the media center PC and home networking. I saw a $300 device recently that's designed to look like a CD player, but it's actually a media server of sorts. Why sell CD players when sales of CDs are down? People will soon be trading CD collections for MP3 libraries. FM tuners are being made obsolete by satellite radio. And then there's what I called "networked music" -- the music channels available through digital cable and satellite programming companies. Carrying around physical media is becoming less convenient for whatever reason. When you have cell phone that's also a PDA, camera, AND MP3 player, why mess with CDs?

The times they are a-changin.'

[Boyd Ostroff]

Originally Posted by Tim Borek

around Indianapolis I'm seeing more and more shops that custom design home theater systems. Their vans and trucks are all over the road around here. (Where do all these wealthy people work????

Heh, I don't know where they work, but I hope they spend an evening away from their home theatres and see the opera at Clowes Hall since I'll be there doing the sets and lights for "The Pearl Fishers" in a few weeks :-)

[Boyd Ostroff]

Here's another report in advance of tomorrow's announcement:

http://yahoo.reuters.com/financeQuot..._t73539_newsml

Sony is likely to accelerate the shift of resources to more promising digital ones such as next-generation DVD recorders, high-definition camcorders and flat panel TVs from analog products.

Looks like Sony will continue to push forward with more consumer oriented HDV cameras while Canon, JVC and Panasonic seem to be focussed on lower volume more expensive prosumer products.

[Boyd Ostroff]

Here's Sony's official press release regarding the restructuring:

http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press/200509/05-050E/

and stories from AP and Reuters:

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/050922/japan_sony.html?.v=9
http://yahoo.reuters.com/financeQuot..._t88658_newsml

In a nutshell:

• 10,000 jobs are being cut worldwide by 2007

• Selling $1 billion in assets

• Ryoji Chubachi will head a reorganized electronic group

• Phasing out production of CRT TV's

• Downsizing or eliminating 15 business categories and reducing its number of models by 20%. They refused to give details on this.

• End of the line for Qualia products (no new models will be introduced)

• Establishing a group to develop OLED displays

• Reaction from financial community lukewarm - no real surprises in plan.

[Meryem Ersoz]

bottom line is, they're just not innovating any more. they're following the consumer revolution rather than creating it. samsung is eating their lunch, as is apple.

their HDV innovations, especially in the consumer camera line, may be too much, too soon, from a business standpoint. it may make sense for all of us to give up our SD for HDV, but try telling that to the folks who've just plunked down $700 or $800 for a camcorder which takes great pictures and even allows for editing at home, (which not many people even do yet, i know because i can make the really easy money doing it for them!). the consumer hasn't even caught up with the current home video "revolution," they're not ready to finance another. they're making stuff they want to make, not stuff people want. prosumer is loving it, but that's a fairly small niche.

sony's motion picture biz is keeping its electronics afloat, and until they flip that equation, their core business is toast.

might be a good time to load up on more stock, maybe let them swim in the swamp for a coupla quarters first.

[Michael Wisniewski]

Originally Posted by Boyd Ostroff

Here's Sony's official press release regarding the restructuring:
• Phasing out production of CRT TV's
• Establishing a group to develop OLED displays

Looks like CRTs are going the way of the audio tape and VHS. At the Canon Expo, Canon was touting their OLED and SED displays. They had a huge booth with working SED sets, also a working digital SLR with a beautiful OLED display.

[Steven White]

End of the line for Qualia products

Despite how "cool" some of the Qualia's were, the whole brand seemed ridiculous... "Hi there, in case you were wondering what the most expensive headphones out there are... well, here ya go! What... no takers?!"

CRTs are going the way of the audio tape and VHS

Yup. I was considering buying an HD CRT a week or two ago when I saw a 30" Samsung one for $800. I did a bit of reading and couldn't find too much wrong with the unit - certainly not for that price and given the maturity of CRT technology... but when I looked at the weight of thing, and did measurements for how much space it would take up in my apartment I just dropped the subject.

I'm now resolved to just wait until 42" - 50" LCD and/or plasma/equivalents are true 1920x1080p and reasonably priced.

-Steve

[Ash Greyson]

I suspect they will get rid of the home audio sector altogether and focus on video games and TVs. They may keep their laptops around but I bet the desktops are on the way out as well.


ash =o)

[Boyd Ostroff]

Originally Posted by Michael Wisniewski

Looks like CRTs are going the way of the audio tape and VHS.

I agree, but this makes me wonder if they will continue making their broadcast CRT monitors? They would need to keep some production lines open to make those trinitrons...