在一場日前于東京舉行的企業(yè)策略演示文稿會議上，日本大廠 Sony 首席執(zhí)行官平井一夫(Kazuo Hirai)重申，電子產(chǎn)品業(yè)務(wù)部門仍是該公司的“第一優(yōu)先”；同時Sony將進一步擴展娛樂與金融服務(wù)業(yè)務(wù)──這兩個部門今日是整個Sony集團的支柱。 Sony在稍早之前所公布的最新財報結(jié)果顯示，這家日本消費性電子大廠已經(jīng)不再是一家“電子廠商”(請點擊這里查看《索尼，你還是消費性電子企業(yè)嗎？》)，該公司幾乎所有的利潤都來自娛樂與保險業(yè)務(wù)，而電視與移動設(shè)備業(yè)務(wù)表現(xiàn)則是拖累；對Sony首席執(zhí)行官來說，權(quán)衡非電子業(yè)務(wù)與不賺錢的電子業(yè)務(wù)之利弊，并非是簡單任務(wù)。 在演示文稿會議上，平井坦承Sony計劃“深入討論”由擁有該公司6%股權(quán)、來自私募股權(quán)機構(gòu)Third Point的行動派投資人Dan Loeb所提的建議案；Loeb主張Sony應(yīng)該考慮將其音樂與電影業(yè)務(wù)部門部分剝離。 平井解釋，上述提案是有關(guān)于將Sony娛樂業(yè)務(wù)的15~20%股權(quán)獨立并IPO，而不是出售整個娛樂業(yè)務(wù)部門：“我們將召開董事會著手討論此案?！钡⑽刺峁┒聲Υ税缸龀鼋Y(jié)論的時間表。 此外Sony也在演示文稿會議中指出，該公司正在朝向?qū)㈦娮訕I(yè)務(wù)于兩年內(nèi)恢復(fù)年度營業(yè)利潤5%的軌道前進──平井的目標(biāo)是在截止于2015年3月的會計年度，達到營業(yè)利潤5%、營業(yè)額6兆日圓的的目標(biāo)。

Sony首席執(zhí)行官平井一夫(Kazuo Hirai)
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從 Sony的財務(wù)預(yù)測中可以看出，其電子業(yè)務(wù)復(fù)蘇之路將會十分艱難，而這家公司恐怕也很容易在全球市場的快速變化中受到?jīng)_擊；做為Sony電子業(yè)務(wù)的三大支 柱──游戲、移動與影像──之一，游戲業(yè)務(wù)的本會計年度(截止于2014年3月)銷售額預(yù)測仍維持在1兆日圓，但營收獲利率則由原先的8%調(diào)降為2%。 本文授權(quán)編譯自EE Times，版權(quán)所有，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載 第2頁：筆記本電腦從移動設(shè)備業(yè)務(wù)中獨立出來 第3頁：一場豪賭？

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• Sony世界攝影大獎得主公布
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{pagination} 盡管最新一代游戲機PlayStation4 (PS4)預(yù)計于今年稍晚上市，Sony還是選擇降低業(yè)界的期待，至少在本會計年度與下一會計年度；該公司表示：“Sony的目標(biāo)是大幅擴展PS4相關(guān)業(yè)務(wù)模式，并在截止于2016年3月31日的下一財務(wù)年度，進一步推動其成長?！? 在 移動設(shè)備業(yè)務(wù)部分，Sony決定將該公司的筆記本電腦產(chǎn)品營收從該部門獨立，理由是“反映過去一年市場與產(chǎn)業(yè)環(huán)境所經(jīng)歷的變化”。將PC產(chǎn)品營收排除于移動設(shè)備業(yè)務(wù)部門之后，Sony也將該部門的銷售額目標(biāo)由原先預(yù)測的1.8兆日圓調(diào)降為1.5兆日圓，但營收利潤則維持在4%。Sony未透露PC部門的業(yè)績目標(biāo)，僅表示將在本會計年度讓該業(yè)務(wù)恢復(fù)獲利。 同時Sony也調(diào)降了影像業(yè)務(wù)部門的銷售額目標(biāo)，由原先的1.5兆日圓降為1.3兆日圓，主要是反映全球一般小型數(shù)碼相機市場的萎縮。不過Sony對于其影像業(yè)務(wù)前景仍抱持高度期望，表示將可在本會計年度藉由其影像傳感器、專業(yè)/消費型產(chǎn)品等業(yè)務(wù)，達到10%的營收利潤。

Sony的最新財報預(yù)測(FY14)
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本文授權(quán)編譯自EE Times，版權(quán)所有，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載 第3頁：一場豪賭？

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{pagination} 一場豪賭？ 分析以上Sony的最新消息，有幾項重點浮上臺面──也許Sony正在豪賭什么，或是正計劃開發(fā)新應(yīng)用。如Sony特別指出，影像傳感器是該公司強項，并打算將把新一代傳感器技術(shù)應(yīng)用于不同的終端產(chǎn)品；該公司并表示，正在開發(fā)能進一步擴展傳感器應(yīng)用領(lǐng)域的新技術(shù)，包括能感測可見光以外光譜的傳感器，以及能偵測、分類不同型態(tài)信息的傳感器。 至于移動設(shè)備業(yè)務(wù)方面，Sony的重點不只是在智能手機，還有平板電腦；該公司并未透露未來的新產(chǎn)品/類別開發(fā)計劃，只表示將推出“以Xperia Z手機之成功為基礎(chǔ)的新一代高競爭力產(chǎn)品”，進一步提升移動設(shè)備的“視(Watch)”、“聽(Listen)”與“創(chuàng)造(Create)”體驗。 在游戲業(yè)務(wù)方面， Sony顯然將聚焦于內(nèi)容與服務(wù)，穩(wěn)固獲利來源；該公司也將串流式PlayStation游戲視為關(guān)鍵，打算利用去年收購的Gaikai公司之云端技術(shù)，讓用戶在不同的設(shè)備上都能享受PlayStation游戲體驗。 相對于Sony對影像、移動設(shè)備與游戲業(yè)務(wù)的重視，該公司的電視業(yè)務(wù)顯得薄弱；雖然Sony誓言讓電視業(yè)務(wù)恢復(fù)獲利，卻似乎沒有相關(guān)新策略。在演示文稿會資料中，Sony提及將為液晶電視添加新一代影像處理引擎 X-Reality PRO、擴展其4K產(chǎn)品，并打造符合新興市場需求的產(chǎn)品，不過這一切看來似乎不足以讓虧損的電視業(yè)務(wù)翻身。 前面所提的Loeb提案，是基于認為若將20%的Sony娛樂部門股權(quán)公開上市，將可募得重整Sony電子業(yè)務(wù)的足夠資金，同時該公司的股東也能藉由此部分業(yè)務(wù)分割短期獲益；但這對Sony更長遠的未來發(fā)展是否有利，仍有待觀察。 更具體地說，這種募資策略是否真能有效拯救Sony的Bravia液晶電視與VAIO筆記本電腦業(yè)務(wù)，是讓人質(zhì)疑的；不過此舉仍可能有助于Sony進一步投資其影像傳感器業(yè)務(wù)──畢竟此業(yè)務(wù)在目前所有的Sony電子產(chǎn)品中，是唯一的贏家。 本文授權(quán)編譯自EE Times，版權(quán)所有，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載 編譯：Judith Cheng 參考英文原文：Sony’s dilemma: Short-term gain vs. long-term strategy，by Junko Yoshida

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{pagination} Sony’s dilemma: Short-term gain vs. long-term strategy Junko Yoshida Sony CEO reiterated that restoring its electronics business is the company’s priority. But how exactly is a partial spinoff of its entertainment divisions going to help? In a corporate strategy briefing held Wednesday (May 22) in Tokyo, Chief Executive Kazuo Hirai of Sony Corp. reiterated that restoring Sony’s electronics business is his company’s “top priority,” while the company will further expand entertainment and financial services -- two divisions propping up the entire Sony Group today. At a time when Sony’s latest financial results show that the Japanese consumer electronics giant is no longer an electronics company (nearly all of its profit comes from its entertainment and insurance units, while the company’s TV and mobile businesses are dragging down the bottom line), juggling pros and cons of the company’s non-electronics businesses and its unprofitable electronics divisions is no easy task for the CEO. Sony's CEO Kazu Hirai During the briefing, Hirai acknowledged that Sony plans to “thoroughly discuss” the proposal made by an activist investor Dan Loeb from Third Point. Loeb, who owns 6 percent of Sony, is urging the Japanese company to consider a partial spinoff of its music and movie divisions. Explaining that the proposal is about spinning off 15 to 20 percent of Sony’s entertainment business in an IPO rather than selling off the entire entertainment division, Hirai noted that “we are going to start the discussion at a board meeting.” He refrained, however, from talking of a timeline for the board to reach a conclusion. During the briefing, Sony also noted that it is “on track” to reach an annual operating margin of 5 percent in the electronics business within two years. Hirai reiterated his goal to achieve an operating profit margin of 5 percent on sales of 6 trillion yen in the fiscal year to March 2015. Lowering expectations Several tweaks and “realignments” Sony made in its predictions -- including lowering its profitability targets for its videogame operations -- illustrate that the road to recovery in the electronics business will be treacherous, and the company will be vulnerable to rapid changes in the global market. Of the three pillars of Sony’s electronics business -- games, mobile and imaging -- games is where Sony decided to lower the target for operating income margin. While maintaining its sales target at 1 trillion yen in the fiscal year ending March 2014, Sony expects its operating income margin to decrease from a previously predicted 8 percent to 2 percent. Despite its upcoming PlayStation4 (PS4), scheduled for roll-out later this year, Sony has chosen to tamp down industry expectations, at least during the current and next fiscal years. “Sony aims to significantly expand its business model around PS4, to transition the business to further growth in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2016 (“FY15”) and beyond,” the company said. Tweaks and realignments As for the company’s mobile business, Sony decided to separate the company’s notebook PC revenues from the mobile sector. The company said the decision reflects “the changes the market and business environment have undergone in the past year.” By taking PC revenue out of its mobile business, Sony lowered the sales target for its newly defined mobile sector from, originally, 1.8 trillion yen to 1.5 trillion yen, while maintain its target for operating income margin at 4 percent. While providing no specific sales or margin target for its PC business, Sony simply said it plans to return the PC business to profit in the current fiscal year ending March 2014. Sony is also lowering the sales target of its imaging business from the originally predicted 1.5 trillion yen to 1.3 trillion yen, most likely reflecting a shrinking market for compact digital still cameras worldwide. Nonetheless, Sony is holding high hopes for its imaging business, hoping to achieve “an operating profit margin of more than 10 percent across the image sensor, professional and consumer categories by the end of the current fiscal year.” Sony's FY14 targets for sales and income margin Tweaks and realignments lead Sony to lower targets in some Placing bets Parsing Sony’s announcement, a few highlights emerge -- where Sony might be betting big or planning to develop new applications. Noting that imaging sensors are “a particularly strong category for Sony,” Sony is committed to commercializing “new sensor technologies capable of differentiating finished products,” the company said. Perhaps more important, Sony is also developing technologies “that further expand the range of sensor applications,” according to the company. Such applications include “sensors capable of sensing beyond the visible light spectrum, and sensors capable of detecting and categorizing different types of information,” the Japanese company explained. As far as the mobile business is concerned, Sony’s emphasis is not just on smartphones but on tablets. Without offering any specifics on new products or new product categories, the company noted that it plans to launch “new and highly competitive products that build on the success of Xperia Z.” Sony intends to roll out the new product (or a new product category) which will “further elevate the mobile ‘Watch,’ ‘Listen,’ and ‘Create’ experiences.” In its games business, Sony’s is clearly focused on content and services as a stable profit source. Sony also sees streaming PlayStation games as critical. The Japanese company’s plan is to leverage the cloud technologies of Gaikai Inc., acquired last year. With that, Sony hopes to allow users to enjoy the PlayStation experience “across a wide range of products.” While Sony stressed its focus on the imaging, mobile and game divisions to lift the company’s overall electronics business, its TV business is likely to remain the weak link. Although Sony says it’s committed to returning the TV business to profitability, the company appears to lack new strategies. In the briefing material, Sony talked about adding a new image processing engine called “X-Reality PRO,” enhancing audio video quality and expanding its 4K LCD TV lineup, while tailoring products that meet the needs of the emerging markets. Nothing, however, jumps out as revolutionary enough to turn around the money-losing TV market. Short-term gain Private equity fund manager Dan Loeb’s proposal is based on a belief that taking up to 20% of the entertainment division public would free up capital to overhaul Sony’s electronics business. While Sony’s shareholders could benefit from the short-term gain for the partial spinoff, how it benefits Sony’s long-term future is far from clear. More specifically, it’s doubtful if there is even a credible strategy for Sony to use capital raised from the partial spinoff to save its struggling Bravia TV or Vaio notebook computer businesses. One could, however, argue that it might help Sony to invest further in its imaging sensor business -- a clear winner among all Sony electronics products today.