Ironman273 Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 Sony's new three-year plan places its bets on PlayStation By Emily Gera on Feb 18, 2015 at 7:00a Sony has announced its new three-year plan to return the company to profitability after a series of losses, and it's focusing on its PlayStation consoles. In a corporate meeting held today, Sony announced plans to give its divisions more autonomy in an attempt to reach 500 billion yen in earnings by the 2017 financial year. The company will split its businesses into three categories: "Growth driver," "stable profit generator" and "area focusing on volatility management." Sony's Game & Network Services business, which features PlayStation, will be categorized as a "growth driver." Sony now intends to expand the user base of its console platform and PlayStation Network as part of this plan. Comparatively, its TV and Mobile Communications division will fall into the "volatility management" category. "Sony will place the highest priority on curtailing risk and securing profits in its operation of these businesses," it said in a note issued today. "Since both markets are experiencing intense cost competition and commoditization, Sony will strive to further increase the added value of its products by leveraging its in-house technologies and component devices. By carefully selecting the territories and product areas it targets, Sony will seek to limit its capital investment and establish a business structure capable of securing stable profits." Sony has sold more than 18.5 million PlayStation 4 consoles worldwide, the company announced earlier this year. According to Sony Computer Entertainment, 4.1 million of those sales came during the 2014 holiday shopping season, from Nov. 23, 2014 to Jan. 4, 2015. Sony also provided PlayStation Plus membership numbers, announcing that it had 10.9 million subscribers as of Jan. 2. Source: Polygon DrunknMunky 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FunkyMike Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 "Sony has announced its new three-year plan to return the company to profitability" Sony's 3 year plan doesn't have anything on Stalin's glorious 5 year plan which was achieved in 2. +E.Worm Jimmy, Veiva and The Evil Overlord 3 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrunknMunky Veteran Posted February 18, 2015 Veteran Share Posted February 18, 2015 Excellent news. Sony have been making all the right moves lately Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+E.Worm Jimmy Subscriber¹ Posted February 18, 2015 Subscriber¹ Share Posted February 18, 2015 Excellent news. Sony have been making all the right moves lately sony is left with film making sony pictures and sony playstation. only electronics divisions left are selling component to apple for iphone. most likely this will be canned as soon as apple figure out how to make the component themselves. so SONY will be sony pictures and playstation. i loved sony the most for electronics. they sold all that off. brilliant phones, readers, tvs, other hifi equipment, mp3 players, and earlier then that - walkmans.... all gone. sold off. all is left is gaming and movies. no more hardware outside of playstation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nosense Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Sony is expecting a loss of 170 billion yen ($1.4 billion) fiscal year through March 2015...Ouch. PlayStation TV....Ouch Hedon 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avi Patel Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Hmm...i dunno. Long term bets on the console business... +E.Worm Jimmy, Stokkolm, spenser.d and 1 other 4 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spenser.d Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Hmm...i dunno. Long term bets on the console business... Have to agree. I don't see how it's a good move to hedge your bets on a business that doesn't traditionally make much of a profit. Hedon 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Audioboxer Subscriber² Posted February 19, 2015 Subscriber² Share Posted February 19, 2015 Hmm...i dunno. Long term bets on the console business... It's far from strictly console. Sony have renamed a lot of things "Playstation *insert name*". Playstation music, Playstation TV, etc. Then there is Playstation Now. If consoles are to ever die off down the line streaming will take over. The bets are being hedged on gaming more than anything, and gaming is never going to cease to exist. Keep in mind this is a 3 year plan That's hardly long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinMacLin Guy Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 These are changes that should have been made earlier. However, thankfully it is not too late. With this I have faith that Sony has a chance of turning its business around. However, I remain skeptical that they can make 500 billion yen earning ($4.2 billion USD) for the year of 2017 with their existing strategy and current product line (although that could change). However, it is important that Sony think outside of just the console market and begin expand in other directions. I believe that Sony Computer Entertainment is more than capable of filling in the gap left by their PC and mobile departments; and I believe that they are capable of eventually re-entering the mobile and PC markets if they play their cards right (although not in the traditional sense that their former PC and mobile departments attempted to achieve). It is also important for Sony to eye and develop products for market sectors that have yet to take off, such as the virtual reality and augmented reality embedded devices market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vandalsquad Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 i loved sony the most for electronics. they sold all that off. brilliant phones, readers, tvs, other hifi equipment, mp3 players, and earlier then that - walkmans.... all gone. sold off. all is left is gaming and movies. no more hardware outside of playstation. They haven't been making TV's and other hardware up to par of it's counterparts like Samsung and LG for quite awhile. We'll maybe up to par but expensive as ****.. I do remember their TV's in CRT days but, trinitrons where they? Awesome looking pictures and blew the competition away. I know the PS4 is doing we'll but I can't see this as a long term solution, Microsoft won't bungle the next console launch and I don't see the Playstation brand bringing in multiple billions of revenue anytime soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomoko Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 They haven't been making TV's and other hardware up to par of it's counterparts like Samsung and LG for quite awhile. We'll maybe up to par but expensive as ****.. I do remember their TV's in CRT days but, trinitrons where they? Awesome looking pictures and blew the competition away. I know the PS4 is doing we'll but I can't see this as a long term solution, Microsoft won't bungle the next console launch and I don't see the Playstation brand bringing in multiple billions of revenue anytime soon. I don't think they even make TVs anymore, they just rebadge stuff made by other companies. It's a shame because they once made the best stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blerk Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 I don't understand why they split imaging sensors from cameras though. Their alpha cameras are pretty impressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soniqstylz Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 sony is left with film making sony pictures and sony playstation. only electronics divisions left are selling component to apple for iphone. most likely this will be canned as soon as apple figure out how to make the component themselves. so SONY will be sony pictures and playstation. i loved sony the most for electronics. they sold all that off. brilliant phones, readers, tvs, other hifi equipment, mp3 players, and earlier then that - walkmans.... all gone. sold off. all is left is gaming and movies. no more hardware outside of playstation. Sony music - http://www.sonymusic.com/labels/ Medical devices - https://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/cat-medicalproducts/ Audio - https://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/cat-audio/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Sony have renamed a lot of things "Playstation *insert name*". Playstation music, Playstation TV, etc. Then there is Playstation Now. If consoles are to ever die off down the line streaming will take over. The bets are being hedged on gaming more than anything, and gaming is never going to cease to exist. Keep in mind this is a 3 year plan That's hardly long. Streaming services vs a giant that had everything going for it. Not sure if that is a good comparison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HawkMan Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 At this rate sony will be dropping everything but PS, they'll go from a major player in electronics to this era's Sega. Playstation is all they will be as they sell of more and more of everything else because it's not profitable or profitable enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Asmodai MVC Posted February 19, 2015 MVC Share Posted February 19, 2015 sony is left with film making sony pictures and sony playstation. only electronics divisions left are selling component to apple for iphone. most likely this will be canned as soon as apple figure out how to make the component themselves. so SONY will be sony pictures and playstation. i loved sony the most for electronics. they sold all that off. brilliant phones, readers, tvs, other hifi equipment, mp3 players, and earlier then that - walkmans.... all gone. sold off. all is left is gaming and movies. no more hardware outside of playstation. I'm not 100% clear on the "Audio and Video divisions" they are spinning off include. I'm pretty sure it does NOT include cameras which are actually very profitable for Sony. As you mentioned it also doesn't include imaging sensors (which they sell to Apple) which are currently profitable. It doesn't include TVs which they already spun off. So the "Audio" part is probably receivers, headphones, speakers, mp3 players and the like and the "Video" is receivers with HDMI and DVD/Blu-Ray players. So that leaves Sony with: PlayStation Sony Music Sony Pictures Sony Cameras (electronics) Sony Imaging Sensors (electronics... until Apple chooses another supplier) Financial Services Sony "Spun off" will be: TVs (already happened) Audio and Video Mobile It's important to note that the above "Spun off" divisions are still wholly owned subsidiaries they're not going away or becoming completely independent. Maybe they will sell them later, maybe they wont, but as of now they'll still own them so it's more of a structural/management change than anything else. The only thing they've actually gotten rid of was computers. They actually sold the computer division and now the VAIO brand has nothing to do with Sony going forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HawkMan Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 I don't think they even make TVs anymore, they just rebadge stuff made by other companies. It's a shame because they once made the best stuff. they stopped making "TV's" when they dropped trinitron for flat screens. since they had ignored all flat screen R&D they ended up buying panels from others. that being Samsung and Sharp. that doesn't mean they don't make TV's though, while you can see many of the same PQ defects on a cheap Sony as a Cheap Samsung (noisy darks and orange tint), they improve image quality a lot from Samsung and sharp panels on the top models with better Driver(not software, the electronics drivers for the panel) firmware and better backlights and diffuser plates. They only buy the panel itself, not the backlight, drivers, software/firmware and how glass is mounted to the panel itself to reduce internal reflections. After all, Sony was the only was with RGB Back lit high end flat screen a few years back, the actual backlit RGB backlight offering close to plasma quality of contrast and colors, of course it was extremelt expensive and few people bought them(plasma was cheaper and I think pioneer was still around still) so it was killed off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedon Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 I remember when Kaz was made President and CEO of Sony in 2012, and said he had a plan to turn the company around...and now three years later, they have another 3 year plan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soniqstylz Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Hey, there's always the new Walkman, the mp3 player that doesn't play mp3s and costs $1,200 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironman273 Posted February 19, 2015 Author Share Posted February 19, 2015 Hey, there's always the new Walkman, the mp3 player that doesn't play mp3s and costs $1,200 And don't forget the "Premium Sound" 64GB SD card for $160 to go with it. http://gizmodo.com/dont-let-sony-charge-you-5x-more-for-a-premium-sound-1686749071 soniqstylz 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+E.Worm Jimmy Subscriber¹ Posted February 19, 2015 Subscriber¹ Share Posted February 19, 2015 Hey, there's always the new Walkman, the mp3 player that doesn't play mp3s and costs $1,200 And don't forget the "Premium Sound" 64GB SD card for $160 to go with it. http://gizmodo.com/dont-let-sony-charge-you-5x-more-for-a-premium-sound-1686749071 ohh wow. did not see this. what great products. i obviously cherish the sweet memories of sony from years ago. since i was a kid sony made the nicest consumer equipment ever, at a more or less reasonable cost. recent trip to sony store proved they don't really stant out from competition anymore. sure they make nice consumer soapbox cameras, but so does panasonic, and at pro level, other companies have better offerings. yeah, not too much left of the sony image from the 80's 90's.... or even 00's that trip to sony store was a bore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vcfan Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 And don't forget the "Premium Sound" 64GB SD card for $160 to go with it. http://gizmodo.com/dont-let-sony-charge-you-5x-more-for-a-premium-sound-1686749071 I don't even +E.Worm Jimmy 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironman273 Posted February 19, 2015 Author Share Posted February 19, 2015 I think it's actually great that Sony is focusing on PlayStation because it's working for them. It's working for them because they really did it right this time around. IMHO, the problems that Sony has had in the past all dilute to one thing: arrogance. They missed the boat on flat screens because they thought nothing could topple their (admittedly good) Trinitron tube technology. They are constantly trying to "corner the market" in technology by making everything Sony specific. How many more Vitas and software would be sold if it supported standard SD cards? Or if anything Sony hadn't been forced to use a memory stick back in the day? Sony could've buried the Xbox 360 right out of the gate if they had a PS3 launch like the PS4. They need to get their think tank back up to speed and just start putting out products that stand on their own and work with everything around them instead of having a final goal of trying to monopolize segments. trooper11 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Audioboxer Subscriber² Posted March 17, 2015 Subscriber² Share Posted March 17, 2015 http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-03-17-playstation-just-brought-in-3bn DrunknMunky 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spenser.d Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-03-17-playstation-just-brought-in-3bn PlayStation (helped) bring in 3bn...and they're still projecting a net loss. Not all great news for the company as a whole, especially if we assume (likely correctly) that PS4 sales will slow down over time. Hedon 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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