Sony "is no longer an electronics company"; will focus on movies and video games

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Barry_Green

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Sony "is no longer an electronics company"; will focus on movies and video games

http://www.theverge.com/2015/2/18/8063269/sony-electronics-future-selling-off-pc-smartphone-tv

The video and sound businesses will be spun off by October.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-31523511

The Semiconductor and battery manufacturing businesses may be sold off later. Sony has already spun off its TV unit and sold off its VAIO personal computer business.

What does this mean for pro video? No way to know at this time; likely no impact will be seen anytime soon. It's not going to be shut down, obviously; it'll be run as a separate, independent company (or perhaps sold to a company who thinks they can do better with it than Sony has done). The TV division was turned into a separate, wholly-owned subsidiary company a year ago, and after 10 straight years of losses adding up to 7.8 billion dollars, it actually managed to turn a profit in its first year as a separate subsidiary. When they spun off the TV division, CEO Kazuo Hirai said spinning the TV unit off into a wholly owned subsidiary did not mean a disposal is imminent. "If you are asking if we have any plan to sell off our TV business, I can say we have absolutely no plan to do so right now," he said.

I have not found any comparable statement as to what their plans are with the video division. Nor have I found any statements about the future of pro video within the video division. This could end up being a good thing or a bad thing for Sony pro video, we just don't know at this time. If the separate company is able to throw off the shackles and focus on the product without having to answer to more layers of bureaucracy, maybe it'll be a good thing. On the other hand, maybe they won't have access to the R&D budgets that they had when they were a part of the megaconglomerate. We don't know what the changes will bring; all we know is that changes in structure are coming, and that Sony appears to be abandoning the "One Sony" philosophy they held to over the last several years.
 
It is an inevitable move. They had to do this as any company usually does that is falling apart financially. It's the best move they can make and as said, no one (even if you're an insider) has a clue how this will end up. What does history tell us? Not much. Some spin offs have done very well through multiple divestures. I can think of the original Hewlett Packard divesting the original test equipment group into Agilent, which then divested them once again recently. They are still successful.

Oddly enough, failing companies often spin off the most profitable divisions because those are the easiest to sell to raise cash. So the spinoffs can do quite well if they don't get destroyed by their new owners. That's the biggest risk. New owners always strip a new division, re-organize it, make it do things our way. This can be fatal and at a minimum, be chaotic for at least one year.

One can only hope it will be quick so that the video division can move on and have as little disruption as possible. As a single focused pro-video company, they can thrive if they want to.
 
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On the surface, this is an anti-Japanese move. I think their divisions will be spread around the globe more and much less prone to the extra heavy overhead in the homeland. In the photo-video business, they should continue with their various alliances, using their fabs to manufacture sensors for one company while borrowing expertise in other sectors from another. Their road map is set for several years forward and, after that, video is running into the "retina limit" wall anyway and becoming a commodity market after that. Besides, there's huge overcapacity in the camera plant space anyway.
 
It's a shame because I think Sony's camera dept had more permission to try innovating, and pursuing crazy ideas, under the safer umbrella of Sony. If they were only a camera company they'd have a harder time pursuing R&D without something significantly subsidizing the cost. Arri, for example, are always selling much more than just Alexas. They have nuts and bolts, lighting equipment, a rental division. All these things subsidize innovation, and give them enough safety to get things right, in the form of a Alexa or Alexa 65. It'd be a shame not to see more ahead of the curve cameras like the F65.
 
Barry_Green said:
This could end up being a good thing or a bad thing for Sony pro video [...] maybe they won't have access to the R&D budgets
Click to expand...

Sony will keep its image sensor division, which might be the best in the world. Who else has made a Super-35 sensor with 14 stops of DR and global shutter? I am not an engineer, but I guess that, of all the parts in a camera, the sensor takes by far the most R&D. Just try to make your own image sensor. But even small shops like Ikonoskop, Digital Bolex, Blackmagic, and AJA can make the rest of the camera, once they get their hands on a sensor that they like. The pro video offshoot should be be able to buy sensors from Old Mother Sony. Maybe the sensors will even be more freely buyable. Does Sony withhold sensors from competitors right now?
 
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combatentropy said:
... Does Sony withhold sensors from competitors right now?
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That's what they say ... but what they actually do is a little different. They will sell their latest technology in exchange for non-compete clauses. That's why D810 is rated as a top FF photo camera on the market but it doesn't have the 4K video. At least, not for the time being.

The sensor division obviously makes its money - and oodles of it - from the smartphone sensors.
 
Maybe Sony's pro camera/video division will get to keep their profits instead of funneling them to Sony corporate. That's what happened with the TV division. Not having to carry parts of the company losing lots of money or proping up the movie studio. I wonder what they will do with Sony Vegas and their other software products?
 
I would hold off jumping to assumptions without hearing from more sources. I thought their broadcast and dslr divisions were profitable. Audio and video may just refer to consumer divisions and a spinoff may just mean a reorganization for accounting.
 
Strategically it's a good move to have separate divisions so there's no conflicts supplying other companies (competitors) with sensors. I believe they have a good handle on sensor manufacturing, research and development and would like be the number 1 supplier of sensors for other manufacturers. Already they have deals with both Nikon and Canon and supposedly a dynamic sensor ready for cell phones. Mobils where it's at these days, wouldn't be surprised if in a few years we see cell phones having ultra high quality video that rival the best pro cams of today. Just my 2 cents. Thanks
 
OH well - it was a good run :) I'm very excited by the Alexa Mini and Kineraw 6k camera. Bye bye Sony if you go away - you did some really nice things. But overall it was sad to watch the Walkman and Trinitron makers lose out in the mobile market. Also watching the Sony Pictures disaster unfold was quite embarassing. I hope their camera division does survive.
 
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