Sony正式宣布出售VAIO個(gè)人電腦(PC)業(yè)務(wù)、分割電視機(jī)部門(mén)并裁員5,000人，同時(shí)發(fā)布財(cái)務(wù)警訊，預(yù)期將在截止于3月底的本財(cái)務(wù)年度虧損1,100億日?qǐng)A，高于先前預(yù)測(cè)的300億日?qǐng)A；這家曾經(jīng)是日本在全球市場(chǎng)之指標(biāo)明星的公司身上，現(xiàn)在幾乎找不到什么亮點(diǎn)。 隨著移動(dòng)裝置崛起，PC市場(chǎng)持續(xù)面臨窘境，然而放掉PC與電視機(jī)部門(mén)顯然得讓Sony付出不少代價(jià)，該公司預(yù)期接下來(lái)兩年將支出900億日?qǐng)A的組織重整費(fèi)用；但留下那兩個(gè)部門(mén)對(duì)Sony也沒(méi)什么幫助，要讓PC與電視機(jī)部門(mén)拚生存，該公司將會(huì)永無(wú)止盡地持續(xù)失血。 如 先前業(yè)界消息， Sony 將把VAIO品牌PC部門(mén)出售給日本私募股權(quán)投資公司Japan Industrial Partners；該投資業(yè)者的幕后金主是美商Bain Capital與日商瑞穗證券(Mizuho Securities)。。根據(jù)日本媒體報(bào)導(dǎo)，出售 Vaio PC部門(mén)的交易金額可能高達(dá)500億日?qǐng)A(約4.9億美元)。此外Sony的電視部門(mén)將獨(dú)立為子公司，但該獨(dú)立公司最后也可能尋求出售。 Tirias Research公司創(chuàng)辦人兼首席分析師 Jim McGregor表示，有諸多原因使得Sony必須出售 Vaio PC部門(mén)。他說(shuō)：“PC市場(chǎng)正持續(xù)萎縮，利潤(rùn)越來(lái)越微薄，加上Sony的PC品牌形象在近年來(lái)持續(xù)下滑；同時(shí)，就像其他高科技公司逐漸失去其市場(chǎng)地位一樣，Sony需要的是撙節(jié)政策，以及專注于有助于使其成為主導(dǎo)廠商的產(chǎn)品與市場(chǎng)?！? McGregor 明確表示，Sony再也找不到堅(jiān)持其PC業(yè)務(wù)的好理由了。他繼續(xù)道：“PC 不再是新技術(shù)落實(shí)應(yīng)用的理想平臺(tái)了。它曾經(jīng)相當(dāng)具有吸引力，值得用戶在PC上利用最新技術(shù)作業(yè)。如今具吸引力的平臺(tái)是移動(dòng)裝置與服務(wù)器。因此，最佳選擇便 是出售 Vaio 給其他PC供貨商，以期減少虧損。我相信有幾家中國(guó)或亞洲供貨商將會(huì)十分有興趣收購(gòu)Sony的PC事業(yè)部門(mén)?！? IHS 資深首席分析師Craig Stice也認(rèn)為Sony正陷于整體PC市場(chǎng)低迷導(dǎo)致的困境中?！坝捎谝苿?dòng)與平板市場(chǎng)崛起以及日漸普及，整個(gè)PC市場(chǎng)在過(guò)去一年多以來(lái)持續(xù)下滑，”但他強(qiáng)調(diào)，Sony從未曾在此領(lǐng)域擁有巨大市占率，而是維持在較低的個(gè)位數(shù)，“相較于惠普(HP)、戴爾(Dell)或華碩(Asus)，其全球市占率約 1.9%還是相當(dāng)?shù)偷?。? 許多投資人與分析師似乎都認(rèn)為，Sony首席執(zhí)行官平井一夫(Kazuo Hirai)做的是合理的選擇，但對(duì)筆者以及其他長(zhǎng)期關(guān)注 Sony 的人來(lái)說(shuō)，其策略還是不夠明確：我們都知道Sony曾經(jīng)是一家怎么樣的公司，但它將變成什么樣子？ 我認(rèn)為，以智能手機(jī)與游戲機(jī)為基礎(chǔ)去重塑Sony的未來(lái)，是很牽強(qiáng)的答案；這兩種業(yè)務(wù)在Sony截止于12月底的第三財(cái)季業(yè)績(jī)都呈現(xiàn)成長(zhǎng)，該公司表示“智能手機(jī)銷售量顯著增加”，且游戲機(jī)部門(mén)也因?yàn)?PlayStation 4 上市，營(yíng)收大幅躍升。 但光是靠智能手機(jī)與游戲機(jī)，Sony能維持長(zhǎng)期性的成長(zhǎng)嗎？特別是在這兩種消費(fèi)性電子產(chǎn)品正迅速“過(guò)氣”的此時(shí)，我只能說(shuō)：平井先生，祝你好運(yùn)！ 本文授權(quán)編譯自EE Times，版權(quán)所有，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載 第2頁(yè)：Sony真的無(wú)法脫身了嗎？ 第3頁(yè)：看見(jiàn)不可見(jiàn)之物？

相關(guān)閱讀：
• CES2014：老牌智能機(jī)大廠缺席，超新星們亮眼
• 日系廠商回歸生活，聚焦智能家庭嵌入式方案
• Sony或收購(gòu)瑞薩晶圓廠，擴(kuò)增CMOS芯片產(chǎn)能FV9esmc

{pagination} Sony真的無(wú)法脫身了嗎？ 一 篇?jiǎng)偝鰻t的、談Sony財(cái)報(bào)之《紐約時(shí)報(bào)(New York Times)》報(bào)導(dǎo)引述投資銀行麥格理(Macquarie)分析師Damian Thong看法指出：“平井緊守特定消費(fèi)性電子業(yè)務(wù)的策略是合理的，因?yàn)樵摴緦?duì)那些領(lǐng)域的專注程度一直高過(guò)松下(Panasonic)等競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手；”他也表示：“沒(méi)有脫身策略了，Sony就是一家消費(fèi)性電子廠商。” 真的嗎？Sony沒(méi)有脫身策略了嗎？如此觀點(diǎn)讓Sony的前景看來(lái)更加黯淡；為了尋找答案，我花了一些時(shí)間認(rèn)真看了Sony首席執(zhí)行官平井在今年國(guó)際消費(fèi)性電子展(CES)上的專題演說(shuō)。 當(dāng)然啦…這類專題演說(shuō)內(nèi)容通常都是充斥自我吹噓以及推銷語(yǔ)言，就像你會(huì)在電視購(gòu)物頻道看到的；但在那將近一小時(shí)長(zhǎng)度的視頻內(nèi)容中段，突然讓我靈光乍現(xiàn)──如 果Sony完全放棄那些硬件機(jī)箱呢？該公司集中精力發(fā)展先進(jìn)的“感測(cè)(sensing)”技術(shù)如何？Sony只要負(fù)責(zé)銷售與授權(quán)技術(shù)，并與那些來(lái)自不同產(chǎn) 業(yè)領(lǐng)域的設(shè)備業(yè)者合作就好。 平井在CES的專題演說(shuō)花了不少篇幅談“未來(lái)的”感測(cè)技術(shù)，他表示，從Sony現(xiàn)有的數(shù)字影像感測(cè)技術(shù)(別忘了，Sony在CMOS影像傳感器領(lǐng)域仍是領(lǐng)導(dǎo)這)到該公司未來(lái)的先進(jìn)感測(cè)技術(shù)，具備“看見(jiàn)不可見(jiàn)之物”的功能。 顯然平井不只是在講新一代的高階數(shù)字相機(jī)，他還提到具備擷取實(shí)時(shí)照片功能的“一種完整影像傳感器數(shù)組”，能讓用戶“改變背景與前景焦距、彩度、影像情度、景深…等，甚至在照片已經(jīng)拍攝完成之后”。

FV9esmc

本文授權(quán)編譯自EE Times，版權(quán)所有，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載 第3頁(yè)：看見(jiàn)不可見(jiàn)之物？

相關(guān)閱讀：
• CES2014：老牌智能機(jī)大廠缺席，超新星們亮眼
• 日系廠商回歸生活，聚焦智能家庭嵌入式方案
• Sony或收購(gòu)瑞薩晶圓廠，擴(kuò)增CMOS芯片產(chǎn)能FV9esmc

{pagination} 看見(jiàn)不可見(jiàn)之物？ 平 井想表達(dá)的重點(diǎn)是，先進(jìn)感測(cè)技術(shù)可“擷取看不見(jiàn)的信息”，包括速度、位置、波長(zhǎng)…等等，并將那些信息結(jié)合，擴(kuò)展人類的感知能力與洞察力，最終讓我們能“看見(jiàn)不可見(jiàn)之物”；他提到該類技術(shù)的潛在應(yīng)用包括汽車(chē)(如先進(jìn)駕駛?cè)溯o助系統(tǒng))、農(nóng)業(yè)(感測(cè)天氣或二氧化碳濃度)、護(hù)膚美容業(yè)以及一般醫(yī)療監(jiān)測(cè)裝置。 好吧…也許那些都只是市場(chǎng)營(yíng)銷操作，讓觀眾對(duì)Sony的前景有一些比較樂(lè)觀的想象，但如果該公司真的想找一個(gè)脫身之道，我強(qiáng)烈建議他們考慮往那個(gè)方向走。 雖然Sony被公認(rèn)是一家消費(fèi)性電子設(shè)備廠商，我認(rèn)為這是一個(gè)該公司拋棄CE標(biāo)簽，并將打造硬件機(jī)箱拋諸腦后的時(shí)機(jī)。Sony既然有一些好點(diǎn)子，能運(yùn)用先進(jìn)感測(cè)技術(shù)來(lái)協(xié)助農(nóng)夫們，那就表示該公司不必一定要靠賣(mài)硬件來(lái)掌握那些技術(shù)資產(chǎn)；只靠硬件是賺不到錢(qián)的。 仔細(xì)斟酌這種轉(zhuǎn)型策略，我明白這意味著Sony必須將賴以為生的商業(yè)模式完全改變；對(duì)該公司來(lái)說(shuō)，拋棄PC業(yè)務(wù)、獨(dú)立電視部門(mén)就夠苦的了──無(wú)論是在財(cái)務(wù)方面或是情感上──更何況是若連游戲機(jī)與智能手機(jī)業(yè)務(wù)都放手，勢(shì)必對(duì)員工帶來(lái)毀滅性的影響。 截至去年9月，據(jù)報(bào)Sony的全球員工總數(shù)為14萬(wàn)5,000人；而就算經(jīng)歷過(guò)最近一次的5,000人裁員(日本員工1,500人、海外員工3,500人)，Sony的組織仍然稍嫌太龐大，這種沉重的負(fù)擔(dān)使該公司不可能成為更靈活、更小規(guī)模、更專注于技術(shù)的公司。 看來(lái)我自己又推翻了幫Sony想出來(lái)的脫身策略，但還是有替代方案的：我們可以把計(jì)劃倒過(guò)來(lái)看，如果Sony的先進(jìn)感測(cè)技術(shù)真的像平井說(shuō)的那么神，那先把該公司的影像/感測(cè)技術(shù)部門(mén)獨(dú)立如何？讓它變成一家精簡(jiǎn)的新創(chuàng)公司，不必再背負(fù)著超過(guò)14萬(wàn)員工的龐大人力負(fù)擔(dān)。 總而言之，Sony實(shí)在不應(yīng)該以集團(tuán)之名藏著那些不賺錢(qián)的業(yè)務(wù)，不過(guò)也不是說(shuō)該繼續(xù)把該公司砍到見(jiàn)骨；Sony該當(dāng)機(jī)立斷，保住能在未來(lái)有一些好發(fā)展的某部分業(yè)務(wù)。 本文授權(quán)編譯自EE Times，版權(quán)所有，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載 編譯：Susan Hong，Judith Cheng 參考英文原文：Sony Negotiating to Sell Its Vaio PC Business，by Zewde Yeraswork； Sony Dumps PCs, Splits TV Op, Cuts 5,000 Jobs，by Junko Yoshida

相關(guān)閱讀：
• CES2014：老牌智能機(jī)大廠缺席，超新星們亮眼
• 日系廠商回歸生活，聚焦智能家庭嵌入式方案
• Sony或收購(gòu)瑞薩晶圓廠，擴(kuò)增CMOS芯片產(chǎn)能FV9esmc

{pagination} NEW YORK — According to Japan's financial newspaper Nikkei, Sony is reportedly negotiating the terms of a deal to sell its Vaio PC unit to an investment fund called Japan Industrial Partners. The news comes as the PC market continues to face poor results due to the rise of mobile, and Sony, stuck with a range of legacy products, scrambles to find its market advantage. The Nikkei report stated that the amount of the transaction could be up to 50 billion yen (US$490 million). The potential deal under discussion, reportedly, would create a new company established by the fund that would own the business, and Sony would have a small stake in that company. According to Nikkei, the sale of the business would lead to disposal losses that could put Sony in a position of net loss for the first time in two years. Sony, earlier this week, denied reports that it plans to sell Vaio to Chinese OEM Lenovo. The Japanese company, however, also acknowledged that it plans to revise its strategy for Vaio by looking at various options. Jim McGregor, founder and principal analyst for Tirias Research, told us that there are a whole host of reasons for Sony to sell Vaio. He noted: The PC market is shrinking; the margins are razor thin; Sony's PC brand image has slipped in recent years; Sony is not a leader in the market; [and] like other high-tech companies that have fallen from market leadership, Sony needs to retrench and focus on the products and markets that it can become a dominant player [in]. McGregor made it clear that Sony no longer has any reasons to hold on to the PC business. He continued: The PC is no longer the magnet platform for new technology on applications. When it was, it was worth being in PCs just to be working with the latest technology. The magnet platforms are now in mobile and servers. The best option is to sell the group to another PC vendor and hopefully minimize the expenses of doing so. I'm sure that there are a few Chinese or other Asian vendors that may be interested in acquiring Sony's PC group. McGregor identified the investment fund possibly looking to purchase the business as a "Japanese private equity firm that obviously sees some value in the group if they can get it for the right price." Craig Stice, senior principal analyst at HIS, agreed that behind Sony's dilemma there is the overall PC market's slump. "The entire market has been down for the last year and a half or so due to the rise and popularity of media tablets," he said. Noting that Sony has never had a huge market share, Stice pegged the Japanese company's market share at steady the low single digits. "1.9 percent worldwide to be exact," he said. That is fairly low compared to HP, Dell, or Asus, he added. Noting that Sony previously made comments that they are in the restructuring stage for its VAIO PC division, this is "not a huge surprise," he said. Unlike McGregor, Stice believes that there are a few reasons why Sony should be holding on to Vaio. "Their brand and their legacy of PCs have been around for a while," he said. "They do well in Japan. They do have a name for themselves. They are one of the few vendors out there that has a complete lineup of electronic devices from TVs to cameras to PCs... People know Sony, they understand it." Stice speculated that Sony might still try to keep a piece of Vaio even after selling most of it to the investment fund. Sony may be in talks with Lenovo for that purpose, he said. Sony's sales and operating revenue in the second quarter of 2013 were 1,775.5 billion yen (US$18,117 million), an increase of 10.6%, compared to the same quarter a year ago. Sony's operating income in the last quarter decreased to 14.8 billion yen (US$151 million), compared with 15.5 billion yen a year ago. Sony is scheduled to announce the third quarter earnings Thursday. Sony Dumps PCs, Splits TV Op, Cuts 5,000 Jobs Junko Yoshida, Chief International Correspondent MADISON. Wis. – Sony dumps its PC business, splits its TV division and cuts 5,000 jobs, and issues a fiscal warning -- a loss of 110 billion yen, instead of a previously forecast profit of 30 billion yen -- in the current fiscal year ending in March. It’s hard to find any bright spots left for the company that was once Japan’s guiding star in the global market. Obviously, letting go of its PC and TV units is costing Sony dearly. The company anticipates a restructuring charge of 90 billion yen over the next two years. But keeping those two divisions wouldn’t have helped. By fighting for the survival of PCs and TVs, Sony would continue to hemorrhage indefinitely. As previously reported, Sony is planning to sell its Vaio PC unit to Japan Industrial Partners, a private equity venture backed by Bain Capital and Mizuho Securities. Sony will spin its TV business into a subsidiary. Although keeping it as a separate company, Sony might be looking for its eventual sale. Many investors and those in the analyst community appear to believe that Sony’s chief executive Kazuo Hirai has made reasonable choices. However, what gets to me, and many veteran Sony followers, is the lack of clarity: We all know what Sony was, but what is it becoming? Rebuilding the foundation of Sony’s future on the back of smartphones and game consoles is hardly an answer, in my opinion. These two businesses showed progress in the third quarter ending in December. Sony reported a “significant increase in sales of smartphones,” and a jump in operating income in its game division due to the PlayStation 4 console launch. But with smartphones and game consoles, will Sony be able to sustain growth over a long haul? At a time when these two consumer electronics products are fast becoming legacy platforms, well, good luck to Hirai. No exit strategy? This morning, as I read the New York Times’ story on Sony’s earnings, I came across the following quote: Mr. [Damian] Thong, the Macquarie analyst, said Mr. Hirai’s strategy of hanging on to certain consumer electronics businesses made sense because the company has always been more heavily focused on these areas than rivals like Panasonic. “There is no exit strategy,” Mr. Thong said. “Sony is a consumer electronics company.” Really? Sony has no exit strategy? Here’s a comment that makes Sony’s future look even bleaker. In search of an answer, I spent a little time this morning watching video of a keynote speech, given last month by Sony chief Hirai, at the International CES. CES 2014's keynote address by Kazuo Hirai, President and CEO, Sony Corp. Click here to watch the video clip. Of course, these keynote speeches are usually so full of self-serving blather and sales pitches that finding any substance is like panning for gold. But in the middle of the almost an hour-long video, it suddenly hit me. What if Sony gets out of the box business entirely? What if it zeroes in on the development of advanced “sensing” technologies? And Sony becomes responsible for selling and licensing, and partnering with equipment vendors in different industries? Hirai spent much of the time during his keynote speech, talking about “future” sensing technologies. He meant everything from Sony’s current digital image sensing technology (remember, Sony is the world’s leader in CMOS image sensors) to its future advanced sensing technology “that has the ability to see the unseen.” Clearly, Hirai wasn’t just talking about the new generation of high-end digital cameras. He cited “a complete array of image sensors,” capable of capturing real-time photos, which allows users to “change background and foreground focus, color intensity, image enhancements, depth of fields, and others -- even after the picture was taken.” To see the unseen But his point about advanced sensing technology was to “capture unseen data,” including speed, location, wavelength and others, and combine them to expand human perception and insight, and ultimately “to see the unseen.” Hirai talked about the potential of using such technology in automotive (i.e. Advanced Driver Assistance System), agriculture (sensing weather, CO2 consistency), skincare, and more general medical monitoring devices. OK, maybe this was just marketing hype to make everyone feel better about Sony’s future. But if Sony is really looking for an exit plan, I’m convinced this is it. Despite the public perception of Sony as a consumer electronics appliance company, I think it’s time to ditch the CE label and forget about building boxes. Just because Sony has good ideas to help farmers with its advanced sensing technology, it doesn’t mean that Sony has to build the box to hold the technology. Sony won’t make money by creating a box for every industry application. As I pondered this makeover, I realized that this is a total switch of the business model that made Sony who it is today. It was hard enough for Sony -- financially, but also emotionally speaking -- to dump the PC business and spin off TV. Ditching both game consoles and smartphones will be devastating to the company’s workforce. As of September last year, Sony reportedly had about 145,000 employees. Even after the latest 5,000 job cuts (1,500 in Japan, 3,500 abroad), Sony is still saddled with too big a workforce. That makes it almost impossible to morph Sony into a more nimble, small-scale, technology-focused company. I know. I just killed my own exit plan for Sony. But here’s an alternative. We can flip the plan. If Sony’s advanced sensing technology is as good as Hirai claimed in his keynote speech, how about spinning off Sony’s imaging/sensing technology group? Make it essentially a hungry startup, freed from the burden of carrying more than 140,000 employees. By all means, Sony shouldn’t be hiding unprofitable business units in the name of synergy. But rather than in the perpetual motion of cutting the company to the bone, it’s high time for Sony to save one part of the company that might be able to do some good in the future.