Sony plans to cut its TV and smartphone portfolios over the next three years. The move will be made to cut costs, with the company looking to the Playstation and image sensor businesses instead.
The goal for both TV and smartphone units is still to turn a profit, even if sales fall by as much as 30%, said Sony’s Hiroki Totoki at an investor’s conference. A recent poor result from the Xperia smartphone line has weighed on Sony’s financial results. More detail on the plans for the smartphone division will be unveiled by the end of March.
Sales in the videogame division, by contrast, are planned to rise by up to 25%, to ¥1.6 trillion ($13.5 billion). Personalised TV, music and video distribution services will help to boost ARPU. Meanwhile, sales in the image sensor business could rise by as much as 70%, to ¥1.5 trillion ($12.7 billion). Sales are already robust; Apple uses Sony’s sensors in its iPhones and the components are seeing increasing adoption from Chinese manufacturers.
