Sony planning to restructure weakening TV division

Shawn Knight

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Sony will begin formulating a plan to restructure their dwindling television market, according to a report from Reuters. The Japanese multinational conglomerate has a long history with producing televisions but has fallen on hard times over the past decade.

The report claims that Sony hasn’t been profitable in the television market in nearly eight years, despite an annual sales forecast of 22 million sets. While this figure may seem high, it’s five million less than Sony initially forecasted earlier this year. “Sony will review everything from development and production to sales in its TV division,” a Sony spokeswoman said.

Sony entered the television market in 1960 with a black and white model. It wasn’t until the announcement of the Trinitron brand that the company found heavy success. Sony introduced the Trinitron brand name for its line of cathode ray tube televisions in 1968 which received praise for its bright images. The company remained a top player in the television market until they were surpassed by the competition with plasma and LCD designs.

Production of the Trinitron brand ceased in 2008 and Sony introduced a line of flat-panel LCD televisions under the WEGA brand until 2005 when they were rebranded as BRAVIA.

In addition to their television woes, Sony has faced adversity in other aspects of their business as well. The March 11 earthquake, ranked as the 4th most powerful quake by magnitude on record, and subsequent tsunami devastated Japan and shut down six of Sony’s manufacturing plants.

The following month, Sony’s online PlayStation Network was hacked and data from an estimated 77 million accounts was compromised. The service remained offline for over three weeks. 

Stock prices have stumbled sharply as a result of these misfortunes.

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Shawn, the chronology of this sentence is a bit unclear;
Production of the Trinitron brand ceased in 2008 and Sony introduced a line of flat-panel LCD televisions under the WEGA brand until 2005 when they were rebranded as BRAVIA.
Perhaps a separation of the timeline between the two TV lineages might prove useful.
 
so its not profitable? but they wanna sell more? its not that they dont have a profit,....they are crying bcuz they didnt get the money they wanted, so they want a bigger piece of cake...in this case of our money....what a cynical company they dont deserve any loyalty until they offer something really good
 
one of my co workers used to work at a sony factory had said that the way they assemble their circuit boards was pathitic. So good luck with that Sony
 
@Guest, "so its not profitable? ..."

Sony been losing money across multiple divisions, the Game division is the only one that pulling there weight. Everyone I talked to is Sony quality across the board is way down / becoming cheap. They losing / lost the when sony meant "quality". Look at tv's from Samsung or even Vizio, that's where they have to compete.
 
Sounds good, I can't wait to not buy one.

Samsung and LG are the only two you gotta consider when you're looking to pick up a flat panel.
 
SONY TV's arent the problem. The prices for their products are too much.
 
Sony is an arrogant company. Remember cd root kits? Also, I found out the hard way that they do not stand behind their products. They screwed me 16 years ago by not honoring a product warranty. They have been riding on their brand name for years while letting quality control and parts quality slip. I haven't bought sony for years and have no plans to in the future. At the moment I own three hdtv's. Two samsungs and a toshiba. Hear that sony? That is the sound of a middle finger being extended. I may be small but I never forget.
 
Sony made a dumb mistake when it was abandoning plasma and focus 100 % on LCD/LED. Panasonic made a correct decision when it sticked with and improved Plasma. For the same size, plasma TV is much cheaper than LCD. I can buy a 50 inch, 720p Plasma at Costco for $600. Buy the LCD with the same size and 720p will cost 200-300 more. Panasonic was profitable selling its Viera TV sets. Samsung saw this and started to produce more Plasma to compete.
 
Sony's name is not that big anymore with so much competition, people are not stupid. With the internet today, it is very easy to compare and review things so why should be pay more for a Sony brand hen other products are just as loaded with features.

Companies like Samsung and LG are doing very well in the screen market and have some exciting features. Also, one really basic feature that I don't see in a lot of Sony TV's is a swiveling base. Both Samsung and LG have a swiveling base in all of their models.
 
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