Tokio: The chief executive of Sony said Tuesday that his company intended to "bring back some of the wow factor" with new products that included a music player with robotics technology and a PlayStation 3 video game console that includes networking services.
Howard Stringer, in wide-ranging comments here, said Sony had recovered from its past financial problems after almost three years of restructuring.
"The next cycle is actual innovation," Stringer said.
Sony's network service, now used to pipe video games to the PlayStation 3, will be expanded to offer other kinds of content. Stringer did not give details or a timetable.
Besides its core electronics business, Sony owns the Hollywood movie studio that made the "Spider-Man" series. Sony also has a joint venture in music with Bertelsmann, which has Bruce Springsteen, Justin Timberlake and Beyoncé Knowles under its labels.
Such content will likely be offered as downloads for the PlayStation 3 in Sony's effort to catch up with U.S. companies like Apple and Microsoft.
When Stringer took the helm at Sony in 2005, the company - once a symbol of innovation with its Walkman line of personal stereos - had been stumbling, falling behind in flat-panel TVs and digital music players.
The turnaround plan that Stringer engineered - which included cutting many jobs, closing plants and dropping unprofitable businesses - will be completed in March next year.
The company has sold off part of its stake in its financial unit, which had a bank and insurer. Sony also has sold its advanced computer chip operations for making the PlayStation 3's "Cell" microprocessor to Toshiba.
On Tuesday, Stringer talked proudly about its latest TV technology and its robotic music player, dubbed Rolly.
This month in Japan, Sony began selling the world's first television for the commercial market with an organic light-emitting diode display, or OLED. The 11-inch, or 27.5-centimeter, display on the TV called XEL-1 measures just 0.12 inches thick, and delivers clear vivid images.
Rolly, which went on sale this year, is a rolling dancing, egg-shaped music player that flaps its lidlike ends and flashes lights.
Stringer made clear that he planned to stay on as chief executive and steer the next three-year plan.
"Am I going to be here for the next three years?" he asked rhetorically. "And the answer is, 'Yes.' "
Stringer said Sony's consumer electronics business in the U.S. market had not been affected by the shaky economy and reiterated that the company was on track to hit a 5 percent operating margin for the year ending March 31.
Electronics operations account for nearly three quarters of Sony's total sales, while the 5 percent margin target has been considered the most visible indicator of success for Stringer's turnaround efforts.
The economy "has not affected electronics in the U.S.," Stringer said. "We are holding up."
(Source ith.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment