Sony exits the PC market

Sony exits the PC market

Sony is to exit the PC market, selling its Vaio division to a Japanese investment group as it concentrates on more profitable ventures including high-end TVs and smartphones.

 Sony has officially announced plans to exit the PC market, selling its Vaio division to a Japanese investment group as a plan to stem its overall financial losses.

 Earlier this week, Sony denied plans to sell the PC division to Lenovo, but in such a way that didn't rule out a sale to someone else. Now, the reason behind the company's careful wording is clear: it is indeed leaving the PC market altogether, selling its entire PC arm to investment group Japan Industrial Partners.

 The move comes as Sony's losses in the PC market mount, dragging down its overall earnings to a loss of around $1.1 billion for its latest financial year. With the Vaio arm making the biggest loss overall, it's natural the company would be looking to trim the fat - although that will come as little consolation for the 5,000 workers, 1,500 in Japan and 3,500 internationally, who are to be out of a job as a result of the sale.

 Sony also confirmed that it would be spinning off its display division into a separate company, and concentrating purely on high-end HDTV and UHDTV sets in the future. While its TV arm has been making a loss of late, the company predicts a return to profit by the end of financial year 2014.

 Sony will continue to produce home entertainment products, including its latest PS4 console, in-house with no plans as yet to sell or spin off any other business units.
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 source: bit-tech.net