Sony released its financial report today, for the fourth consencitive year in a row, the electronics company has reported a substantial loss.
In March the company is expected to post an annual loss of $2.9 billion dollars, this according to Reuters. Although a loss for the year was expected, a loss of $2.9 billion would be an unexpected low for the company.
It isn’t due entirely to low sales, though they do play a role. One of the largest economic factors is the Yen compared to outside markets. Nintendo, also based in Japan, is facing the same problem. With such a large share of sales taking place in foreign markets, both Sony and Nintendo are loosing money as it returns to Japan in the exchange.
Add to this the earthquake in Japan, the PSN outage and a flood that caused production problems and you can see how it really wasn’t Sony’s year.
The first step in turning things around is the hiring of the new Chief Executive Officer, Kaz Hirai. Kim Young-Chan, an analyst at Shinhan Investment Corp stated, “It won’t be easy for Sony to regain its lost ground under new leadership, as its overall competitiveness has sharply weakened,”
For the most part this is true, Sony has yet to reclaim first place in any of the leading technologies it has invested in. TV sales are falling behind Samsung, who also have invested in tablet devices and smartphones. Sony’s CEO not only has to find a way to innovate its products, it needs to find a way to connect to younger-consumers that have grown up not thinking it is number one.
SOURCE | REUTERS
