Sony
Corp. (6758) plans to make its mobile- device business profitable next
fiscal year as it boosts shipments of smartphones, the head of the unit
said.
The maker of Xperia handsets and tablets plans to sell more than 34 million smartphones in the year beginning April 1, Kunimasa Suzuki, chief executive officer of the unit, told reporters in Tokyo today, without giving a more specific figure. The company said last month it’s targeting 34 million shipments this fiscal year.
President Kazuo Hirai is focusing on mobile devices as a key to reviving Sony, which is reeling from four straight annual losses amid slumping demand for TVs and competition from Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple Inc., the two largest smartphone makers. Sony bought out its mobile-phone venture with Ericsson AB last year for 1.05 billion euros ($1.4 billion) and is eliminating about 15 percent of the unit’s workforce.
“Sony needs to sell about 50 million smartphones to rank third, behind Apple and Samsung,” said Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at Ace Securities Co. “I think Sony has the ability to achieve it, but if it can’t reach 50 million, it will fade and become irrelevant.”
The maker of Xperia handsets and tablets plans to sell more than 34 million smartphones in the year beginning April 1, Kunimasa Suzuki, chief executive officer of the unit, told reporters in Tokyo today, without giving a more specific figure. The company said last month it’s targeting 34 million shipments this fiscal year.
President Kazuo Hirai is focusing on mobile devices as a key to reviving Sony, which is reeling from four straight annual losses amid slumping demand for TVs and competition from Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple Inc., the two largest smartphone makers. Sony bought out its mobile-phone venture with Ericsson AB last year for 1.05 billion euros ($1.4 billion) and is eliminating about 15 percent of the unit’s workforce.
“Sony needs to sell about 50 million smartphones to rank third, behind Apple and Samsung,” said Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at Ace Securities Co. “I think Sony has the ability to achieve it, but if it can’t reach 50 million, it will fade and become irrelevant.”
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