Kaz Hirai will probably be remembered by most for his goofy E3 presentations, but in truth the ex-Sony CEO proved his business credentials by transforming the encumbered organisation back into a global juggernaut. A new article from Hollywood Reporter reveals that the conglomerate’s stocks have hit a 10 year high this week, cementing the firm’s status as the most valuable Japanese electronics maker for the first time in over a decade.
The company’s overall market value (as of Tuesday) was an estimated $65 billion, pushing it above industrial equipment manufacturer Keyence. Sony’s nearest competitors – like Sharp, Panasonic, and Toshiba – have all been hit in recent years by changes in the global marketplace, but the PlayStation maker has been the company quickest to adapt.
Fascinatingly, it’s the entertainment segments of the company that have helped propel it back to profitability, with video games and music playing a big role. The firm also makes a lot of money from its financial services domestically, and of course it continues to peddle televisions, cameras, and other electronics – although it has a much more focused product portfolio these days.
It’s really good to see Sony back in such a healthy position, because when we first started this site around a decade ago, things were looking really dire for the company. Credit must be heaped on Kaz Hirai, who had to make some very difficult decisions, but ultimately turned a sinking ship around. He’s since been replaced by former CFO Kenichiro Yoshida as CEO.
[source hollywoodreporter.com]
Comments 32
Sony were falling behind in many areas - the Sony Pictures were in dire straits with failure after failure but films Spider-Man: Homecoming and Jumanji have really helped turn a profit. They aren't dipping their hand in as many 'electronic' pies as they were and opting to make OLEDs with LG panels has helped too and their TV's are not so 'over-priced' compared to their competitors and equivalent specs too - still behind Samsung and LG themselves but it has helped with their profits. Do they still make Vaio? It seems that they are concentrating on areas they can be successful rather than trying to make 'everything'.
Obviously their gaming division is very strong at the moment too but its no longer the only part that is 'successful' and offsetting other areas.
Congratulations to Kaz and Sony.
Don't mess it up, Kenichiro.
No pressure.
Well done SONY!!
Lend us a fiver?
@Futureshark how about a PS5er?😉
Happy to hear this! Have always been a Sony fan and I think we can credit the PS brand for this amazing turnaround.
A $65 billion market value is great. However, when you think about this:
https://money.cnn.com/2018/05/30/investing/microsoft-market-value-google-alphabet-amazon/index.html
Micro$oft could easily swallow up Sony and have enough left over for a beer and a pizza down at the corner rib shack.
Let's hope Sony never sells out to them or anyone else...
Kaz's going away present. Sony were haemorrhaging money for a long time so it's testament to him and others that were able to turn things around.
@LaNooch1978 Sad, isn't it?
Yay! Rich people!
@RogerRoger Its not surprising as the Vaio were not that well specced for the money - not when you compare to brands like Acer, HP, etc. Tablets have taken over laptops too - unless you want a gaming one or need a decent keyboard for work/business but for most people, a tablet is much better suited to their needs.
We all know Samsung and Apple are dominating the mobile space too and Sony's handsets are more for those who are fanboys of Sony and/or anti-Apple/Samsung.
In most areas, Sony are competing with a LOT of others - many of whom can make products much cheaper. With gaming though, their only major competitor is Microsoft at the moment. You can't count Nintendo as a major competitor (sorry Ninty fanboys) as they can't offer a platform for all the latest games and is more of its own thing in a lot of ways but with Electronics (AV/TV/Mobile etc), they are competing with many brands with 'cheaper' labour and cheaper (not inferior) parts. Even if they do use components manufactured in places like Korea or China, they still have to pay more to import them than those who use the same quality components in their Korean/Chinese electronics as well as the higher labour costs to assemble them into products.
It doesn't make sense for Sony to get back into computing - unless they can build something distinctly unique and/or competitively priced. If they built a quantum computer for example before anyone else could with significant advantages - all for a 'reasonable' price, then they may well stand a chance but to build something that Acer, Asus or HP for example are building at a lower price with equal and even better specs, its not likely to be 'successful'
Been a PlayStation fan since day 1 in September 9.1995.been playing video games since 1983 with atari.and play .every system before PlayStation.PlayStation is the best day one since 1995 .playa.word up son
Not only 1st party games, but all of sony (beside smartphone division) is firing on all cylinders too
@Turismo4GT Thats predominantly the microsoft office set of products. We have 20 or so licences for office in our main complex at whatever the rate is now (about £3000 per year). Think about that. There isnt a single playstation.
great news Kaz has done a brilliant job
Member when Sony was doomed?
@RogerRoger A strong Sony helps all of us - whether we are fans of Sony products specifically or not. Competition drives progression and whilst they may not be in the 'computer' market any more, its the products they are still manufacturing that pushes others them and others to improve.
I personally have criticisms of Sony TV's but you can't argue with their motion handling which is 'best' in class but the fact that they are now offering OLEDs gives them something that the 'biggest' TV manufacturer (Samsung) currently doesn't offer. I do think though that Sony are not best placed to compete in the PC/Laptop market because the competition is so fierce and a lot of the components were not made by Sony either so they were more just 'assembling' and putting their badge on it.
There does seem to be a 'lack' of new developments which helped Sony in the past. They gave us the Walkman, Discman, Blurays etc but unless Sony can create the 'next big thing', they seem to be chasing the pack rather than being at the forefront. Of course I am not referring to gaming here where they are clearly the market leaders with a long history and has a 'big' fanbase that would take a monumental failure on Sony's part to lose.
Even if the PS5 isn't much more than a Step-up from the X and MS come out firing on all cylinders, Sony's console will still sell because of the history of Games. Even if it has mediocre 'exclusives' for launch, the promise of more games from ND, GG, Sucker Punch etc will be enough to sell consoles and there will be those that won't buy MS for whatever their reason.
That's different from TV's, AV, Mobiles, Cameras, even their Movies too because if they mess up or can't 'compete', people will buy one of the many alternatives. If their movies suck, people will watch other movies but you will have to buy a PS to play the PS exclusives and I can't see all their studio's messing up, ruining all their franchises.
Anyway, I would rather see Sony look at competing in areas that they can rather than push themselves to compete in every area. Even though I am not currently a fan of Sony's TV's for a number of reasons, I know that they could tempt me back with 'little' effort - their CES Prototype looked stunning and made the ZD9 look like an ordinary SDR TV next to it. Maybe they will be 'first' to market with MicroLED - they did demo a 1080p MicroLED TV a few years ago so the potential is there....
@BAMozzy I believe you're talking about their Crystal LED display technology. They have actually made a commercial product with that called CLEDIS (Crystal Light Emitting Diode Integrated Structure). You can connect multiple panels together to make one big one. Sounds amazing, it would be cool to have a home version of that. https://blog.sony.com/2016/05/sony-redefines-high-end-visual-display-technology-with-a-new-canvas-for-creativity/
I wonder if Sony would integrate the next or current console into a range of TVs, because if you can buy a TV with your console already installed, with extra hard drive compartments and other connections, it would be one more way to play and Sony could potentially reduce cost of parts and the problem of game shops selling less games, with the question of what if they decide not to sell consoles because of it. Potentially the reason for digital new releases being so high in price, is to keep the retailers who sell their consoles happy.
@Gravity_Bear The problem with that is that any fault with the TV components and you have to throw the whole thing out. Imagine having to throw away your PS5 because the TV screen failed.
@Gravity_Bear I was referring to the CLEDIS prototype which is essentially Sony's own terminology for using tiny LED's as a 'Pixel' and similar to Samsung's 'The Wall' in structure.
The problem is that Sony showed that off in 2012 (I think) and then 4k launched in 2014. Sony's CLEDIS TV had 3 LED's per pixel - 1 each for Red, Green and Blue - so that 1080p TV had essentially over 6m Pixels but to make that into a 4k TV, you would need nearly 25m. The density is an issue too because even with computers and robots, they can't mount these LEDs close enough and within a 'margin of error' - we are talking very small fractions of a micrometer. Making these in 'small' panels or tiles, reduces the chances of error and reduces the cost. Scrapping a panel of 10000 pixels because of errors is a lot cheaper than scrapping a panel of 25m pixels.
Building in a PS5 into a TV is a stupid idea. Not only will it increase the cost, you also increase the weight, increase the thickness, increase the heat, increase the cooling needs, increase the noise etc. It makes more sense to offer PSNow through the smart functions but then if you have a PS4 (or 5 when that releases), most people used PSNow through that instead of their TV when it was offered. Sony dropped support for PSNow TV's because it was costing more to support than they were getting from subscriptions.
The only people that will buy a Sony PS5 TV would be those very few that want both the TV and the Console combined. The rest would rather just buy a console to run on their current TV's or buy just a TV and not have to pay extra for a console that is fatter, heavier, noisier etc.
Congratulations I guess I mean it doesn't impact me anything but congrats to the dudes and chicks who work at Sony that create games,movies and stuff like that.
@BAMozzy Re Console TV: You're right in regards to the heat and the weight/size problem, but if it was a specific range of TVs, then people would know what to expect and they could potentially stick a larger cooling system in it. There is also the possibility of removing redundant components from the TV or console. But whether or not they could actually get the heat and noise balance right at this stage, I guess is more unlikely.
I personally wouldn't buy one, because if I want to update the TV, I wouldn't have to worry about the console. But if the TV market heads in the same direction as the cellphone market, in 15 years it may have happened. TVs are already doing things beyond their original function.
This is just food for thought and speculation, because you see so many devices and systems change over the years. Many DVD and Blu-ray buyers would have sworn that physical media is the only way to go, but many probably use Netflix more nowadays. And why would you stick a camera in a cellphone, it will never produce good results, but here we are.
They could have built the PS Vita TV into some of their TVs and that might have worked out better for the platform, along with a sizable memory storage (at least 64GB built in).
@Paranoimia Yeah true, that would be sad. They maybe could develop an after TV death backup system or extra hardware attached to the hard drive that identifies that it is not a copy, so that you can use it in another TV/console.
@Gravity_Bear I hinted at the only way I think Sony could do it - and that would be more of a streaming system. If games 'run' on the TV, you need the power to run these adequately and that would increase the heat and heat management. Even if you are not using the power to actually 'run' games but for the smart functions, the image processing etc, its still going to generate more noise because of fans etc because you have a bigger PSU (power unit) which generates more heat for a start to run the PS5 as well as the Screen. You would need some special heat shield to protect the screen etc. They would have to use a SSD which again adds a LOT to the cost.
Its not that they can 'do away' with some parts. Things like 'Smart Apps' are a by-product of the 'internet' connection. Your old PS1 could run apps but couldn't connect to the internet for content. Of course it would only be SD because it doesn't have the ability to send HD via its analogue connections.
At the end of the day, the cost would be much more than buying a similarly sized TV and separate console. I just don't think it would make sense. Obviously Sony don't either but if they do end up making a streaming PS, then maybe that will make it to their TV's too...
@BAMozzy Hows that Apple/Samsung fanboy. I have had the Sony Z1, 3, 5 and they where great. Now i have XA2 for €299 still a happy customer ah yes no xploding batteries, can fix my phone with a update making the phone useless, and if i buy a top end phone it gets updates. 😁
@Flaming_Kaiser The general consensus though is that Sony handsets are not as good as Samsung/Apple and despite the exploding batteries and issues with supporting 'old' handsets, these are by far the most popular too. I don't think Sony even features in the top 10 in the world (maybe higher in some countries - like Japan for example) but Samsung is top, Apple is 2nd. You also have brands like LG, Huawei TCL etc. Sony had around a 2% market share in 2012 but trying to find an accurate list for current trends is difficult.
That doesn't mean I think they are 'terrible' and certainly better than many 'brands' best handsets but I assume that 'price' is a factor as to why they are selling so few compared to others. It seems that if you want the high-end, you buy Apple or Samsung and if you can't afford those, you go for one of the others. What this means is that Sony's Mobiles, regardless of how good they are, are not selling in the numbers that many other brands are selling. My point was all about SALES not about whether they were 'good' or bad.
@RogerRoger I do have the same feeling about the viao range. I get that Sony don't want to be in that market now but would have been nice if Sony viao with some serious spec to compete with gaming laptops. So knows though as I'm sure Sony are back in the robotics division which Im excited about even though I can't afford their robots.
@Gravity_Bear I'm waiting for the engineer to repair my Sony tv. Twice now this has happened in a year. First 3 months the panel went so it was a replacement. 1 year on now power to the unit. Engineer has already ordered the part before even having a look at it. Seems a common issue. Dps board I think is faulty. Tv is xd9305.
Don't think it would matter if the playstation was built in or not. Can't play it regardless lol. And it's killing me. I do have another Sony in front room but I'm not allowed to use my own tv
@Bamf That sounds harsh. I wonder how wide spread the problem is. Shame you can't play your PS4 on the other TV.
@BAMozzy Maybe they'll develop a heat sink and ventilation system that reduces the need for a noisy fan and develop a nice integrated system where the TV can use the PS#'s RAM, CPU, GPU, et cetera without taxing the system too much. It's the CPU and GPU that are responsible for generating the most heat, the PSU does create heat, but I wouldn't think it would create too much. But anyway this is the future we're talking about, anything is possible, dare we dream and wonder.
Edit: The streaming service is another possibility of the future, so nothing stopping that from becoming reality. Just like VR, they must be doing research to improve it and could become a more common service to consumers.
@Gravity_Bear the craziest thing has happened. Not being able to play my ps4. I've cleaned the whole house. Organised my games library from today's and retro. Which I built new shelving for. Amazing the things you do when you leave gaming. I may turn off Internet next lol
@Bamf It really is amazing what you can get done when you don't have distractions. I've actually thought to myself at times, that if I had never got the internet connected, I'd be better off. Mind you, I seem to be one of these people that do things and wonder why it took two or three times longer than it should have.
@Gravity_Bear tv repaired and working. No more being productive around the house 😂 😂
@Bamf Awesome! Productivity is over rated anyway! Who needs a clean house.
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