Sony sees $2.9 billion loss

[maflynn]

Wow, all I can say is I was surprised to see Sony incur such a loss. True as the MSNBC story documents, there's some extenuating circumstances (thailand flooding supply, weak economy, etc) its still surprising to get whacked with such a large loss.

Link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46236852/ns/business-world_business/#.TyrRHVH3Ahc

TOKYO — Ailing Japanese electronics giant Sony Corp warned it was heading for a bigger-than-expected $2.9 billion annual loss, presenting a daunting task for incoming CEO Kazuo Hirai, who vowed to move quickly to turn things around.
Overtaken by more innovative rivals such as Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics over the past decade, Sony posted a $2.1 billion net loss for October-December, normally a strong quarter boosted by year-end holiday sales, as it battled a strong yen, flooding in Thailand that ruptured supply chains, and a weak economy.

 

[AAPLaday]

I wish i made as much in a year as Sony loses

 

[*LTD*]

Another also-ran getting left behind. Not surprising at all.

A lot of the old guard can't cope with changing market conditions. It's all about being able to re-invent your business.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

I sadly have to agree with some of what LTD said. Sony seem to of lagged behind and failed to keep up for a while. They are getting back on track and I can see they are moving in the right direction but they are going to feel pain for a little while during that time.

As much as people bash Samsung you have to give them credit for the fact they are damn good at adapting and staying fairly strong in the markets they are in as said markets change. They jump on others short comings. I find it strange that of the old guard Samsung seems to be the only one not really struggling and instead thriving.

 

[MacNut]

I sadly have to agree with some of what LTD said. Sony seem to of lagged behind and failed to keep up for a while. They are getting back on track and I can see they are moving in the right direction but they are going to feel pain for a little while during that time.

As much as people bash Samsung you have to give them credit for the fact they are damn good at adapting and staying fairly strong in the markets they are in as said markets change. They jump on others short comings. I find it strange that of the old guard Samsung seems to be the only one not really struggling and instead thriving.

Samsung doesn't get stuck in proprietary standards and hope everyone else adopts them. Look at how many products Sony has that are not compatible with anything else.

Sony's only remaining business is the pro market, they are losing ground in the consumer area. They used to be the top TV maker, they killed off the Trinatron line and the others caught up. When you can buy a good Vizio for half the price people are going to forget about Sony.

 

[chrmjenkins]

Sony's two cores problems are overpricing and too many products. Their VAIO ultraportables are extremely competitive yet overpriced. Same for their televisions. Their products in the phone and tablet space indicate a passion for design without a complete lack of understanding what the consumer wants. Their gaming division is making great games but they don't see to understand how to embrace their customer's desire for a consistent, pleasant online experience. They could take some cues from live and steam. You never punish people who wish to hack and tinker with your products.

 

[maflynn]

I think arrogance had played into Sony's pricing decisions. I think they felt justified for hiking up the price because of their name. For a while that worked because they had some great products but their competitor's caught up feature and quality wise and there was really no reason to spend the premium on a tv when samsung had as good if not better TV.

 

[roadbloc]

Putting their faith behind the PlayStation and Blu-Ray has stung Sony. As good as both products are, Microsoft have eaten into Sony's marketshare with the Xbox and people appear to be either sticking to DVD or using streaming services for movies and TV shows.

I don't think Sony's pricing strategy has helped either. But to be fair, their products tend to be great performers (probably due to this 'vertical integration' stuff that they practice.)

 

[*LTD*]

I will say, that Sony's Bravia line is really second to none. It oozes quality. But really, it comes down to a matter of this spec vs. that spec. Still not enough differentiation, and certainly lousy performance in the market taking shape post-June 2007.

 

[davidinva]

For the older folks - remember Beta?

 

[AppleScruff1]

For the older folks - remember Beta?

As in Betamax? Yes I do.

 

[chrmjenkins]

Putting their faith behind the PlayStation and Blu-Ray has stung Sony. As good as both products are, Microsoft have eaten into Sony's marketshare with the Xbox and people appear to be either sticking to DVD or using streaming services for movies and TV shows.

I don't think Sony's pricing strategy has helped either. But to be fair, their products tend to be great performers (probably due to this 'vertical integration' stuff that they practice.)

Blu ray hasn't been part of the problem. It has faster adoption rates than DVD did and it helped drive playstation sales. Their actually folly with the playstation was packing it with too much and then taking a hit on loss per console.

 

[Chechomsky]

Apple should take some of the $ they have in the bank and buy Sony.

 

[roadbloc]

Apple should take some of the $ they have in the bank and buy Sony.

No.

 

[GermanyChris]

For the older folks - remember Beta?

And it was far better than VHS

Blu ray hasn't been part of the problem. It has faster adoption rates than DVD did and it helped drive playstation sales. Their actually folly with the playstation was packing it with too much and then taking a hit on loss per console.

While this is probably true there are a couple things that help it..Many blu-ray movies come with a DVD also so you don't really need to commit..Second people are used to buying disc's now especially when those disc's don't cost significantly more..when DVD came out video stores were not quick to adapt so it was easier to keep the VHS and they were COSTLY just like CD's..

I think Blu-Ray is the metal tape of the new generation..I see the future as you take your thumbdrive stick it into a kiosk pay your money and it downloads it then after a week or 2 viewings it deletes it's self or something to that effect.. Optical disc's will soon be the limiting factor and storage is becoming way to cheap..

 

[KnightWRX]

Samsung doesn't get stuck in proprietary standards and hope everyone else adopts them.

It's not like Sony never had success with their "standards". Some have caught on, some have not. At least they try to innovate stuff.

 

[0000757]

Just a fun fact, all the little Sony marquee's inside the parent company apparently are constantly fighting.


But Sony has used too many proprietary (Mylo, Betamax, MiniDisc, for example) systems, as well as making dumb market decisions (PSPgo, anyone?), but at the same time, Sony has made some of the best products (Playstation Line, Blu-Ray, Some of the best movies, GREAT headphones and Sound Systems), not to mention the stellar Vaio series.

 

[Shrink]

For the older folks - remember Beta?

As in Betamax? Yes I do.

Older folks!!??

Beta??

Oh yeah, beta. That videotape thing.

The problem is the paradox... older folks and remembering.

 

[chrmjenkins]

And it was far better than VHS

While this is probably true there are a couple things that help it..Many blu-ray movies come with a DVD also so you don't really need to commit.

That wasn't the case as much early on as it is now. They didn't use to come with DVD pack-ins. Also, you most assuredly were committing when you were dropping 300+ for a player and 20+ for the discs. What risk are you saving yourself from by getting the DVD too? It's not as if your blu ray player will magically stop working.

.Second people are used to buying disc's now especially when those disc's don't cost significantly more..when DVD came out video stores were not quick to adapt so it was easier to keep the VHS and they were COSTLY just like CD's..

You have to remember that DVD launched without a competing format. Blu-Ray, in the face of HD-DVD, still had quicker adoption rates. It's more analogous to the VHS/Beta situation. People should have been comfortable buying discs at DVD time given how well seated CDs were by then. Plus, the benefits of DVD over VHS were arguably greater than Blu Ray versus DVD.

I think Blu-Ray is the metal tape of the new generation..I see the future as you take your thumbdrive stick it into a kiosk pay your money and it downloads it then after a week or 2 viewings it deletes it's self or something to that effect.. Optical disc's will soon be the limiting factor and storage is becoming way to cheap..

NAND-based non-volatile storage will always significantly trail optical formats. There are transparent wave-based discs on the horizons that can hold terabytes of data. Each use is a trade of speed, size, cost, etc. I don't see the future of home media being in users storing it in their ever growing in data size personal data repositories. It's in the cloud and they are going to stream the content they "own" on demand.

 

[TSE]

Sony has some of the greatest innovators and designers in the industries they are in today, unfortunately this is what happens when you have poor management, or lack thereof.

 

[GermanyChris]

That wasn't the case as much early on as it is now. They didn't use to come with DVD pack-ins. Also, you most assuredly were committing when you were dropping 300+ for a player and 20+ for the discs. What risk are you saving yourself from by getting the DVD too? It's not as if your blu ray player will magically stop working.



You have to remember that DVD launched without a competing format. Blu-Ray, in the face of HD-DVD, still had quicker adoption rates. It's more analogous to the VHS/Beta situation. People should have been comfortable buying discs at DVD time given how well seated CDs were by then. Plus, the benefits of DVD over VHS were arguably greater than Blu Ray versus DVD.



NAND-based non-volatile storage will always significantly trail optical formats. There are transparent wave-based discs on the horizons that can hold terabytes of data. Each use is a trade of speed, size, cost, etc. I don't see the future of home media being in users storing it in their ever growing in data size personal data repositories. It's in the cloud and they are going to stream the content they "own" on demand.

DVD's competition was VHS and Laser Disc. VHS was significantly cheaper and laser disc was more expensive. than DVD ..I cannot remember the quality difference honestly. TV technology has changed so much since then so its not like I can pop a tape and DVD on an old Tube type TV anymore..

By commitment I mean if you have a portable DVD player it needn't be changed, one in the car, an Apple computer you can plunk $129 and have a blu ray player then get when you buy your Blu Ray you get a DVD for the rest of the house.

If you can buy a TB disc and re-write I agree..but where is HD technology going to be at that time? It seems that HDD's will always be cheaper for mass storage. But in the then again only geeks are going to set stuff like that up..I just dunno how "normal" people store media because I really don't if it's not on Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Hulu Plus I don't watch it.

But cool movies etc. really aren't my thing.

 

[chrmjenkins]

DVD's competition was VHS and Laser Disc. VHS was significantly cheaper and laser disc was more expensive. than DVD ..I cannot remember the quality difference honestly. TV technology has changed so much since then so its not like I can pop a tape and DVD on an old Tube type TV anymore..

By that token, you must use DVD as Blu Ray's competitor (which isn't a guaranteed pack-in. I see it on maybe 25% to 33% movies now, and that's up from the past).

Laser Disc was never a serious competitor because the format was huge. It was essentially CD density data on a huger disc.

By commitment I mean if you have a portable DVD player it needn't be changed, one in the car, an Apple computer you can plunk $129 and have a blu ray player then get when you buy your Blu Ray you get a DVD for the rest of the house.

I think the dichotomy between digital delivery is much stronger than the one with DVDs. People should be hesitant to commit more to it knowing it's on the way out.

 

[rdowns]

I used to be a big Sony fan and had a ton of their products in my house. As I look around, all I own now are a Bravia LCD and 5-1 home theater system, both 'bought' with Marriott points.

 

[chrmjenkins]

I used to be a big Sony fan and had a ton of their products in my house. As I look around, all I own now are a Bravia LCD and 5-1 home theater system, both 'bought' with Marriott points.

Who's the Australian chick in your avatar?

 

[0dev]

The $2.9 billion is probably their legal costs for suing geohot combined with the cost of recovering from the PSN hack. Their fault I say