14 DAY TRIAL // Sony is a tech giant selling products from smartphones to gaming consoles and photo equipment, but the company is not seeing profit coming in from all areas it has extended into.
Last year, Sony pulled out of the eBook reader market in the US, leaving Kobo to tend to the needs of customers who still owned a digital reading device from the company. The Japanese device maker also sold off its VAIO laptop business so that it could better focus on its smartphone endeavors.
But guess what? Sony’s smartphone sales aren’t skyrocketing either. Traditionally, Xperia handsets have been decent devices, but they always failed to bring something exciting to the table. And it appears we shouldn’t get our hopes too high for the future either.
A few weeks ago, we told you that Sony was preparing to lay off more than 1,000 employees from its smartphone division, which is a clear indication things are getting pretty sour.
Now a new report coming out of Reuters reveals that the Japanese tech giant is expecting to lose money this year on a net basis for the sixth time in the last seven years.
Sony looks to PlayStation and cameras to find the salvation it needs
So given the situation, the company is looking to shift its focus to the PlayStation and camera sensor divisions. At least for the next three years. Something which the company’s CEO Kazuo Hirai believes will help increase operating profit by 2500% over the period.
Does that mean we should kiss good-bye the Xperia smartphone lineup? Most likely. Although, the company is expected to push out a new Xperia Z4 smartphone with Snapdragon 810 on the inside sometime later this year.
At some point in the past, Sony was rolling out a new flagship model every six months, but given the circumstances, the company will end up launching less and less new models.
It appears Sony can’t handle the pressure of Chinese device makers spurting cheap handsets with capable specifications at the speed of light. On top of that, the company also had to deal with pressure coming from the giants of the mobile industry, namely Apple and Samsung, and obviously it couldn't handle it.
Hirai has mentioned that the company doesn't rule out considering an exit strategy, which could translate into the fact that Sony is looking to sell off its mobile division just like it did with the VAIO.