Japanese consumer electronics giant Sony unveiled its mid-term corporate strategy for 2018 to 2020 on May 23rd, 2018, acknowledging concerns regarding its smartphone business.
According to slides obtained by Xperia blog, Sony admitted that a key issue with its smartphone business has been a lack of fast improvements to its smartphone lineup.
The slides also state the the company’s mid-term vision is to create “new value to customers for the 5G era.”
The company seems to be eying 5G as an opportunity to integrate its various products — including its cameras, televisions and smartphones — to provide customers with a more unified Sony experience.
As a 2020 target, Sony hopes to “create a lean, agile business without an excessive focus on revenue and units sold.”
Concerns about Sony abandoning its hardware efforts
Today’s news comes on the heels of rumours that Sony planned on moving away from its hardware efforts towards a more software-focused future.
A Bloomberg report from May 22nd, 2018 suggested that newly minted Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida planned to use today’s mid-term strategy meeting to introduce a three-year plan that “embraces Sony’s growing reliance on income from gaming subscriptions and entertainment.”
According to a May 23rd, 2018 Sony media release regarding the company’s mid-term corporate strategy meeting, “Sony will aim to position Branded Hardware as sustainable and consistent cash-flow generating businesses that enable continued investment in the Sony Group’s growth.”
“In this area, Sony will continue its policy of targeting profitability and the premium market rather than unnecessarily pursuing volume,” reads an excerpt from the same May 23rd media release.
Source: Xperia blog, Sony, Bloomberg
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