The Verge - Sony in transition: a new CEO drives the storied company back into profithttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/52801/VER_Logomark_32x32..png2014-09-17T02:46:21-04:00http://www.theverge.com/rss/stream/25301362014-09-17T02:46:21-04:002014-09-17T02:46:21-04:00Sony's inability to sell smartphones is costing it $1.7 billion
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<p>Sony has just revised its annual earnings forecast with the addition of a major 180 billion yen (roughly $1.7 billion) "goodwill impairment charge." This relates to Sony's Mobile Communications (MC) business, where the company says it had overestimated revenues from smartphones and tablets and has now decided to alter its strategy and accept the loss. As a result, Sony now anticipates overall losses for the fiscal year ending next March to be over $2.1 billion.</p>
<p>Sony has been in rebuilding mode for a number of years now, looking to narrow down its focus around Kaz Hirai's <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/12/2943015/sony-strategy-meeting">One Sony strategy</a> and become a more cohesive and agile company. Central to these efforts has been Sony's emphasis on mobile devices: the Xperia range of Android...</p>
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https://www.theverge.com/2014/9/17/6300093/sonys-inability-to-sell-mid-range-smartphones-is-costing-it-billionsVlad Savov2014-05-14T02:28:50-04:002014-05-14T02:28:50-04:00Sony forecasts further losses despite strong PS4 and smartphone sales
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<p>Sony is back to losing ways after recording a ¥128.4 billion ($1.25 billion) net loss in its 2013 fiscal year. The Japanese tech giant's operating income was ¥26.5 billion ($257 million) off ¥7.77 trillion ($75.4 billion) in sales. Twelve months ago Sony <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/9/4314430/sony-2012-fy-earnings">reported a ¥43 billion net profit</a> for 2012, its first in five years, but after these 2013 results Sony is now forecasting a second consecutive loss for the current financial year: it expects to lose ¥50 billion ($489 million) by the end of next March.</p>
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https://www.theverge.com/2014/5/14/5715704/sony-earnings-fy-2013Sam Byford2014-02-06T02:02:50-05:002014-02-06T02:02:50-05:00Sony cutting 5,000 jobs, reverts forecast to loss
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<p>Sony has reversed its prediction of a full-year profit, now expecting to make a net loss of ¥110 billion ($1.1 billion) in the year ending March 2014. It's the second quarter in a row that Sony has cut its guidance; the company <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/31/5049778/sony-earnings-q2-2013">slashed expectations</a> to ¥30 billion from ¥50 billion in October. Sony hasn't changed its revenue forecast, however — the swing to loss is down to depreciation and amortization along with restructuring costs incurred by <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2014/2/6/5385212/sony-sells-off-vaio-pc-division">selling off the VAIO PC business</a> and spinning off TVs into a separate unit. Operating income for Q3 was ¥90 billion yen ($860 million) and net profit was ¥27 billion ($257 million) off sales of ¥2.41 trillion ($23 billion).</p>
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https://www.theverge.com/2014/2/6/5384654/sony-q3-2013-earningsSam Byford2013-11-22T03:25:01-05:002013-11-22T03:25:01-05:00Sony will shrink movie division in order to keep it alive
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<p>Under Kaz Hirai's leadership, Sony has seen its mobile business turn into a <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/1/4577762/sony-earnings-q1-june-2013">profit driver</a> and its mirrorless cameras <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/16/4843860/sony-alpha-7-7r-hands-on-photos">competing with professional-class DSLRs</a>. While Sony's hardware manufacturing credentials have been restored, however, other parts of the company remain in a troubled state. Chief among them is the entertainment division, which Sony is announcing plans to restructure and downsize in the wake of some outspoken criticism and mounting losses.</p>
<p>Sony Entertainment has been subject to <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/14/4329364/sony-should-spin-off-entertainment-finance-says-hedge-fund-manager-loeb/in/2530136">an impassioned plea from one of Sony's big shareholders</a>, who wanted to see it detached from the monolithic Japanese company and offered up on the stock market as a standalone business. CEO Hirai <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/5/4592330/sony-ceo-kaz-hirai-rejects-third-point-entertainment-proposal/in/2530136" style="background-color: #ffffff;">declined the idea</a>, underlining the value of Sony's...</p>
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https://www.theverge.com/2013/11/22/5132704/sony-will-shrink-movie-division-in-order-to-keep-it-aliveVlad Savov2013-10-31T02:21:47-04:002013-10-31T02:21:47-04:00Sony cuts profit outlook by 40 percent despite strong smartphone sales
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<p>Sony made an operating profit of ¥14.8 billion ($151 million) in the second quarter of its fiscal year, as strong smartphone sales and a weak yen partially offset poor performance in the entertainment division. The company's mobile division brought in ¥418.6 billion yen ($4.27 billion), a 39 percent year-on-year increase, but Sony's net loss overall was 19.3 billion ($197 million).</p>
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https://www.theverge.com/2013/10/31/5049778/sony-earnings-q2-2013Sam Byford2013-10-11T04:16:35-04:002013-10-11T04:16:35-04:00Sony cedes US smartphone market to competition, for now
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<p>Sony CEO Kaz Hirai has been speaking to the press over in Japan today, where he's outlined his company's priorities for the near term. Pivotal to <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/1/4577762/sony-earnings-q1-june-2013">Sony's improving fortunes</a> is the company's mobile division, whose success in the last quarter helped offset other losses in driving Sony to a moderate profit. Kaz underlines that importance, but argues that Sony must build on its current strengths first before looking to expand elsewhere.</p>
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https://www.theverge.com/2013/10/11/4826986/sony-cedes-us-smartphone-market-to-competition-for-nowVlad Savov2013-08-12T13:00:01-04:002013-08-12T13:00:01-04:00Why is Sony still in the entertainment business?
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<p>Sony slammed the door in the face of a major shareholder last week when it <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/5/4592330/sony-ceo-kaz-hirai-rejects-third-point-entertainment-proposal">rejected billionaire investor Daniel Loeb's proposal</a> to spin off part of the company's entertainment business. Loeb, whose Third Point LLC hedge fund owns nearly 7 percent of Sony, had <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/14/4329364/sony-should-spin-off-entertainment-finance-says-hedge-fund-manager-loeb">suggested selling</a> between 15 to 20 percent of the music and film divisions in order to raise capital, sharpen the company's focus, and boost its long-suffering stock price. But CEO and president Kazuo Hirai, in an open letter to Loeb, says the company's board unanimously voted against the proposal and called 100 percent ownership of the divisions "fundamental to Sony's success."</p>
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https://www.theverge.com/2013/8/12/4613744/why-did-sony-reject-entertainment-spinoff-proposalSam Byford2013-08-05T20:08:00-04:002013-08-05T20:08:00-04:00Sony rejects investor proposal to spin off entertainment business
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<p>Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai has written an open letter rejecting billionaire investor Daniel Loeb's <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/14/4329364/sony-should-spin-off-entertainment-finance-says-hedge-fund-manager-loeb">proposal</a> that the company sell part of its entertainment business. Loeb, whose Third Point LLC owns about 7 percent of Sony, had pressed the Japanese giant to offer between 15 and 20 percent of Sony Entertainment to shareholders; the investor believed this could boost stock price by up to 60 percent.</p>
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https://www.theverge.com/2013/8/5/4592330/sony-ceo-kaz-hirai-rejects-third-point-entertainment-proposalSam Byford