Sony may give up on its mobile phone business

Everything Goes

20-02-2015

Sony may give up on its mobile phone business. That's not to say it'll stop making smartphones but it is a possibility.

Quote:
“The company's done betting that its phones will find a home in everyone's pockets.

What a shock, right?

Seriously, though, Sony's been trying to downplay its mobile ambitions for a while now. It's already been a few months since Sony announced it would dramatically dial down the number of smartphone models it makes, after all. Oh, and this year is the first in recent memory that the company has decided not to put on a formal MWC press conference. We're still expecting the company to show off something, but the message is clear: This whole mobile space isn't really its thing anymore. And frankly, who could blame it? The Sony we know now is lighter and livelier than it's been in years, all thanks to a drastic weight-loss scheme that involved giving up on lackluster product lines.”

http://www.engadget.com/2015/02/19/sony-mobile-future/

gregrichards

20-02-2015

I think it's a case of too many cooks in the kitchen. There are too many phone makers and not all of them are going to survive. I think HTC and Sony won't be in the market in a few years as there devices don't sell enough.

Everything Goes

20-02-2015

Originally Posted by gregrichards:
“I think it's a case of too many cooks in the kitchen. There are too many phone makers and not all of them are going to survive. I think HTC and Sony won't be in the market in a few years as there devices don't sell enough.”

Sony are in 10th place in the Smartphone market and sales are not meeting expectations! Samsung, Apple and Lenovo (Motorola) are the top 3 manufactures.

http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2052236

Gigabit

20-02-2015

It's such a shame as Sony phones have been getting really good lately

M1kos

20-02-2015

Yes I love Sony phones do quit Sony!

finbaar

20-02-2015

The Z2 sorted out battery life, the Z3 finally had a decent screen so all they need to do is put a decent camera on the Z4 (or rather sort out the software algorithms).

funlovingirl

20-02-2015

Don't know what's going on at Sony but I recently just found out that they sold their Vaio brand last year.

Orbitalzone

20-02-2015

Originally Posted by funlovingirl:
“Don't know what's going on at Sony but I recently just found out that they sold their Vaio brand last year.”

They're making massive losses so getting rid of divisions that aren't performing.

Radio Max

23-02-2015

My son has a Sony xperia e1 and its is so bad

The Lord Lucan

23-02-2015

Just as they are becoming good.. Some would say better than any of the Galaxy range they quit. I hope the next Playstation will be a beast with all this "Focus"

enapace

23-02-2015

Haha I liked Sony they have fixed the problems with there phones but sadly like HTC aren't selling enough. People are just going Samsung and Apple and buying based of that not on how good the kit is.

I've just brought an iPhone 6 but not because it's a Apple Product. But because I've started to like iOS a lot lately and VoLTE and WiFi Calling support is what I consider useful. So to me to ticks the boxes I look for in a phone plus like the size of the device as well I might return to android in future but for now iOS is what I like.

The Lord Lucan

23-02-2015

I don't think many would miss them in the TV industry. Especially seeing how slow they were to embrace the changes in how a TV now fits into homes and with how the industry will be moving shortly.

I liked most of the Z phones.. They just never felt special enough, cool enough for the price tag and I'd have expected Sony Mobile to be way in front of camera tech.. Yet Nokia had them beaten. If they had solved that I'd have jumped to Sony & Android.
The phones were nice.. But no one really likes nice.

Icaraa

23-02-2015

Originally Posted by The Lord Lucan:
“I don't think many would miss them in the TV industry. Especially seeing how slow they were to embrace the changes in how a TV now fits into homes and with how the industry will be moving shortly.

I liked most of the Z phones.. They just never felt special enough, cool enough for the price tag and I'd have expected Sony Mobile to be way in front of camera tech.. Yet Nokia had them beaten. If they had solved that I'd have jumped to Sony & Android.
The phones were nice.. But no one really likes nice.”

I know it's slightly off topic but I always thought Sony TVs would be better than Samsung's. But I could be out of date there, might be worth me checking out some reviews and seeing if that's really the case. Do Sony make their own LED panels or are they made by someone else?

psionic

23-02-2015

They got rid of their Vaio computer brand as well I believe. I guess they've no option but to cut back and focus on the products that are more profitable for them.

jchamier

23-02-2015

Originally Posted by Icaraa:
“I know it's slightly off topic but I always thought Sony TVs would be better than Samsung's. But I could be out of date there, might be worth me checking out some reviews and seeing if that's really the case. Do Sony make their own LED panels or are they made by someone else?”

For a long while Sony and Samsung had a joint factory, but when that agreement ended, Sony and Toshbia and Hitachi formed a new company called Japan Display Inc to do this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Display

Everything Goes

03-03-2015

Sony look to be hedging their bets on staying in the mobile business.

Quote:
“What's more, its mobile division is a major factor in huge losses at Sony.

So, when I met Mr Hirai again, I gently suggested that it might be time to give up. He wasn't having it - not yet, at least.

"It's fair to say it's a very dynamic, competitive and rapidly changing market," he told me, admitting that in some areas, "we just couldn't keep up."

He went on: "We need to keep a closer eye on the return on capital, what the competition is doing... But that's not to say we're getting out of the business."

I asked him whether he could guarantee Sony would still be in the mobile business five years from now.

"There is no guarantee that we will be in any business in five years' time," he responded.

"That's just the nature of the electronics business."

Five years ago, Nokia and Blackberry were two huge, even dominant forces in mobile phones.”

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-31703903

Zebb

03-03-2015

Originally Posted by Everything Goes:
“Sony look to be hedging their bets on staying in the mobile business.

What's more, its mobile division is a major factor in huge losses at Sony.

So, when I met Mr Hirai again, I gently suggested that it might be time to give up. He wasn't having it - not yet, at least.

"It's fair to say it's a very dynamic, competitive and rapidly changing market," he told me, admitting that in some areas, "we just couldn't keep up."

He went on: "We need to keep a closer eye on the return on capital, what the competition is doing... But that's not to say we're getting out of the business."

I asked him whether he could guarantee Sony would still be in the mobile business five years from now.

"There is no guarantee that we will be in any business in five years' time," he responded.

"That's just the nature of the electronics business."

Five years ago, Nokia and Blackberry were two huge, even dominant forces in mobile phones.

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-31703903”

Are you Rory Cellan-Jones?

Everything Goes

03-03-2015

Originally Posted by Zebb:
“Are you Rory Cellan-Jones?”

Yes