Which will get cancelled in favor for one manufactured by Phillips.
Eventually leading to 3DO2?
Which will get cancelled in favor for one manufactured by Phillips.
You have to go back 4 years for the last time the division made a loss? how is that supporting your claim?
About that...
The PS1 was more profitable than the PS2?
expenses in the Game segment increased 13.2 billion yen, or 27.4 percent, to 61.5 billion yen.
Since 1999, SCE has invested approximately 300 billion yen, starting with an investment in 180 nanometer process fabrication capacity and moving to the introduction of a 90 nanometer process fabrication line. Through the use of this cutting edge technology, SCE will begin production during the fiscal year ending March 31, 2004 of a super LSI that combines EE and GS on a single chip.
Furthermore, in order to manufacture a new microprocessor and other system LSIs designed for the broadband era and for use in the next generation computer entertainment system, the Sony Group, including SCE, decided in April 2003 to make, over the 3-year period ending in March 2006, approximately 200 billion yen in capital expenditures. This 200 billion yen expenditure will give the Sony Group a new semiconductor fabrication line for building chips with 65 nanometer process on 300mm wafers.
The PS1 was more profitable than the PS2?
Well, I'm not an expert, but Japan is famous for its use of cross-holdings, poison pills and other defences against hostile takeovers. Some of those same defences would be effective against activist shareholders.
I can't say much about this particular case, and it's entirely possible that he'll be able to do it. But doing corporate restructuring in Japan is definitely different than America.
Since you blew the first reference, I'll give you another chance:
Would you say Pride and Honour play a large role in Japanese stock markets?
The natural defence for Sony from this is to for them to merge with Toshiba and create a $50bn company in which Loeb will have a difficult time in exerting control.
Sony Corp, responding to a shareholder's call for it to spin off its entertainment operations, said its entertainment businesses were important to its growth strategy and "are not for sale".
The statement from a Sony spokesman came after hedge fund Third Point went public with a proposal for Sony to sell part of its entertainment division in a public offering to bolster the electronics group's profitability and boost the share price.
No, I gotyourthe reference and addressed what I saw as an accusation of ignorance (like the 'expert' of the meme).
EDIT: Perhaps I'm just a bit touchy tonight, but "are you an expert?" read to me as "are you an idiot?"
Sony has responded.
Sony says entertainment businesses not for sale
http://news.yahoo.com/sony-says-entertainment-businesses-not-sale-074723929.html
The tone is much different than when he fought with Yahoo's management.Step Two: Focus on Industry-Leading Businesses to Bring Growth to Sony Electronics
Sony Electronics has suffered frustrating results for the past decade, brought about by low
margins, persistent losses, and weak returns on capital. While it is true that Sony has excellent
products, such as the PlayStation, Xperia smartphones, and mirror-less cameras, several of
Sony's product lines- e.g., personal computers and DVD recorders - lack scale and provide
commoditized products at high costs to secularly challenged markets. Of particular regret is
Sony's venerable TV business which has sadly languished as a loss leader for the Company for
nearly a decade, but now appears poised to return to profitability in coming quarters. Despite
its challenges, we believe Sony Electronics is a source of considerable and
underappreciated value.
No, I gotyourthe reference and addressed what I saw as an accusation of ignorance (like the 'expert' of the meme).
EDIT: Perhaps I'm just a bit touchy tonight, but "are you an expert?" read to me as "are you an idiot?"
Well, I'm not an expert, but Japan is famous for its use of cross-holdings, poison pills and other defences against hostile takeovers. Some of those same defences would be effective against activist shareholders.
I can't say much about this particular case, and it's entirely possible that he'll be able to do it. But doing corporate restructuring in Japan is definitely different than America.
PS3 has lost more money than PS1 and PS2 combined made. Not decent.
Was waiting for your post zomg, thanks
Out of curiousity, do Sony and Toshiba have any sort of working relationship in any way, shape or form? I take it Toshiba is just too large for Sony to buy outright, which is why you're suggesting a merger. I'd always heard Japanese companies weren't too keen on working with one another due to decades of competition, but I suppose Sonys recent ties with Panasonic and Olympus show they're willing to work with their neighbours.
After the fallout of their battle royale during the HDDVD vs Bluray days?
That is one grudge Sony hasn't forgotten, it was a costly, bloody war, with the movie moguls and studios pretty much deciding the outcome, consumer adoption only playing second fiddle.
Microsoft backed the wrong horse during that era too going as far as to make a HD DVD drive for their 360 consoles, and now they're going to be forced to use Sony patented Bluray drives in their next XBOX, how ironic.
In your dreams zomgbbqftw, in your dreams.
DOOMEDDDDD!!!! Fuck everything after 2009!You have to go back 4 years for the last time the division made a loss? how is that supporting your claim?
This post was very, very, very interesting. Thank you.Hostile takeovers are so rare in Japan, that there isn't a lot of case law around it. There are some provisions built into existing securities law that requires hostile bidders to make a bid or cease accumulating stock - that triggers at a far lower threshold than comparable US law. If anything, it should be easier legally to take over a company in Japan, the real issue is whether one can do anything with it since you will probably see a huge number of resignations - leaving the company a shell of its former self.
What Japanese executives typically do in difficult situations, is go to trusted banks and mutual funds and have them hold large positions of the company, and basically "hold out" until the activist leaves. They then feed inside information to the bankers so that the bank is rewarded for stepping in to save the management team. I know this sounds nuts - but it happens in American too - just in a different way - and usually through equity research guys.
That said, let's not forget that Loeb essentially walked all over Jerry Yang and a bunch of people at Yahoo, which was highly insulated for years, and made 50% on his investment there when everyone else had given up on it. He plays really hard, and he's already thought about all the various scenarios here, even taking into account the fact that Sony is a Japanese company and he is dealing in a different culture. Probably one of the reasons why he hand-delivered a note to the CEO and told him he intended to be "partners" with him. "Kill them with kindness" is probably Loeb's attitude here.
No matter which way to spin it, Sony is bleeding right now, Loeb stepping into the picture is not a good sign because it's just going to make it all that much more difficult for management to buy time to keep executing on the turn-around plan. At best they can just hope they pay Loeb some sort of a "Wall Street Tax" and get him to go away - at worse they are going to have to accelerate sell-offs of some businesses at sub-optimal prices or even do an IPO of Sony Entertainment which will distract them from more important things like running their core businesses.
You have to go back 4 years for the last time the division made a loss? how is that supporting your claim?
I wonder if this guy is trying to do the same thing Icahn did with Lionsgate? Buy up shares and cause as much chaos as possible knowing that the shareholders would never buy his plans and the company would have to pay him a fortune for his shares to boot him out.
In saying that I still expect Sony to sell their film & TV divisions in a few years regardless. It's been said countless times in the past that Hirai doesn't like Sony's media divisions and wants out. Hence the constant rumours.
Hmm, considering how quickly Sharp seems to be sinking, would it make any sort of sense for Sony to either aquire some or all of them? I'm thinking Sony could at least utilize Sharps IGZO tech.
I wonder if this guy is trying to do the same thing Icahn did with Lionsgate? Buy up shares and cause as much chaos as possible knowing that the shareholders would never buy his plans and the company would have to pay him a fortune for his shares to boot him out.
In saying that I still expect Sony to sell their film & TV divisions in a few years regardless. It's been said countless times in the past that Hirai doesn't like Sony's media divisions and wants out. Hence the constant rumours.
Last time I heard, Sharp was stabilizing and getting some big cash injections. Is that not the case?
This is actually in exact opposition for what is Kaz's plan for Sony, though. He wants to integrate all of the subsidiaries to work together and spinning-off the 3 media centered sections in the company would go directly against it. This might have been an option earlier when various departments within Sony weren't working together but right now it seems as though they are finally coming around to the idea that they can talk to each other and help create the products that way.Regardless of Kaz's view on film and TV I'd still find it a good move to spin-off Sony Pictures, Sony Music and SCE into one company gathering up all media business (Still under control of mothership Sony but safe from problems of other divisions). The only problem would be splitting up hardware and software for SCE. But packing it up into one company should raise synergy between them. They should be working on streaming solutions together.
Supposedly his stance has been softening in the past few months. No word on why, but we've had chatter in the City that he has come around to a new viewpoint on the media divisions.
We've been told over and over again that the divisions are not for sale privately and via public statements, I am starting to believe the chatter that Kaz has formed a new opinion on their media divisions.
If Playstation hardware goes the way of the dodo after this gen (which is entirely possible), I could see Sony packaging up its game studios, streaming platforms, movie studios, music studios, and rebrand them as the "Playstation Company" or something similar, and spinning it off into a consumer media business that is Western-centric and run by US executives - focusing on making movies, games, and music for their key intellectual properties (across all platforms)...
This might have been an option earlier when various departments within Sony weren't working together but right now it seems as though they are finally coming around to the idea that they can talk to each other and help create the products that way.
Interesting. Everything I've heard about SPE recently has been about the pretty drastic cuts that they've been experiencing. Under Amy Pascal SPE were a deep pocketed, free spending studio but those days are long gone.
Apparently many 'event movies' at SPE are getting shelved (like Invertigo which, having read the script, would have been EXPENSIVE) or redeveloped in favour of smaller, cheaper projects like comedies.
Such moves suggest one of two things. Either Sony simply don't have the capital to pour sacks of money into SPE anymore or Sony are cutting the studio's budget to the bone in an effort to get larger profit margins that way. The latter, given SPE's huge staff and overhead, seems a very short term fix to what is a larger 'issue'.
Poor you.Canceled.
What does this mean for the PS4?
Which will get cancelled in favor for one manufactured by Phillips.
Money people are stupid.
This is actually in exact opposition for what is Kaz's plan for Sony, though. He wants to integrate all of the subsidiaries to work together and spinning-off the 3 media centered sections in the company would go directly against it. This might have been an option earlier when various departments within Sony weren't working together but right now it seems as though they are finally coming around to the idea that they can talk to each other and help create the products that way.
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/05/14/hedge-fund-manager-daniel-loeb-targets-sony-for-a-breakup/?smid=tw-share
Would the gaming division been able to stand alone without the support of the rest of sony over the last few years?
Loeb has a 6.5 Percent Stake in Sony Becoming One of Its Largest Shareholders
Lock if old
An American hedge fund billionaire known for starting big fights has called for a breakup of the entertainment and electronics colossus Sony, according to people briefed on the matter, possibly setting off a battle that could roil Japans famously staid corporate culture.
The call, which came on Tuesday, will most likely be viewed by government officials and corporate leaders in Tokyo as a shot across the bow from Wall Street, just as Western investors begin piling into Japanese stocks.
The hedge fund manager, Daniel S. Loeb, is pressing Sony to spin off part of its entertainment arm, which includes one of the biggest film studios in Hollywood and one of the largest music labels in the world, responsible for movies like Skyfall and artists like Taylor Swift.
Mr. Loeb known for ousting Yahoos former chief executive and luring Marissa Mayer away from Google to run the company also signaled that he would accept a seat on Sonys board.
His hedge fund has quietly amassed a stake of about 6.5 percent in Sony, making it one of the biggest shareholders. The holding, made up of stock and derivatives, is valued at about $1.1 billion.
Still, even big Japanese investors have often faced resistance in seeking changes at companies, a hurdle that may be significantly higher for a foreign hedge fund manager.
A spokesman for Sony, Shiro Kambe, said in a statement that the company welcomes investments. We are focused on creating shareholder value by executing on our plan to revitalize and grow the electronics business, while further strengthening the stable business foundations of the entertainment and financial services businesses, he said.
But Mr. Kambe also pointed to repeated assertions by Sonys chief executive, Kazuo Hirai, that Sony Entertainment contributes significantly to the overall company and is not for sale. We look forward to continuing constructive dialogue with our shareholders as we pursue our strategy, he said.
Mr. Loeb, 51, the founder of the hedge fund Third Point, flew to Tokyo this weekend for three days of meetings with government officials, regulators and senior Sony executives, according to people briefed on the matter. He hand-delivered a letter on Tuesday to Mr. Hirai that praised a turnaround effort but asked for more.
So while Third Point supports your agenda for change, we also believe that to succeed, Sony must focus, Mr. Loeb wrote in the letter, which was reviewed by The New York Times.
After the meeting, the hedge fund manager told associates that he was impressed by Mr. Hirai and supported management, according to a person briefed on the matter.
Mr. Loeb said he believed that spinning off a portion of the entertainment business to Sony shareholders could sharpen the companys focus and lead to higher profit margins, while helping to revive the core electronics business. He has also contemplated a potential spinoff or sale of other operations, including Sonys insurance division, which accounted for much of the companys profit last quarter.
The campaign is a bet that Japan will prove the next gold mine for global investors. Long hobbled by a so-called lost decade of little economic growth, the country has come to life in recent months under the stewardship of Shinzo Abe, who as prime minister has promoted policies meant to attract private investment. Mr. Loeb is betting that Mr. Abe will expand deregulation.
Under Prime Minister Abes leadership, Japan can regain its position as one of the worlds pre-eminent economic powerhouses and manufacturing engines, Mr. Loeb wrote in his letter.
Despite its decade-long slump, Sony, the 67-year-old electronics pioneer, remains one of the most prominent companies in Japan, with a market value of roughly $18 billion.
Still, Mr. Loeb has plenty of ammunition. Shares of Sony have plunged nearly 85 percent over the last 13 years. The company long ago ceded its crown as the king of cool electronics to Apple, and its dominance in televisions was eroded by the emergence of Korean rivals like Samsung and LG.
Last week, Sony reported its first annual profit in five years. But it reached that milestone thanks largely to the weakening yen and some belt-tightening, including the consolidation of businesses and the sale of its American headquarters.
Sonys chief executive, Mr. Hirai, is scheduled to make a presentation about the companys turnaround plan next week. He has argued that despite having come late to the era of digital media, the company that made the Walkman, the Trinitron television and the PlayStation can rebound.
To Mr. Loeb, more must be done, starting with the spinoff of Sony Entertainment. Though the division accounts for more than 40 percent of the companys enterprise value, he said in his letter that it needed discipline to raise its profit margins. Mr. Loeb estimated that a partial spinoff of the entertainment business could bolster Sonys share price by as much as 60 percent.
In his letter, Mr. Loeb proposed handing 15 to 20 percent of Sony Entertainment to existing shareholders. His firm would be willing to backstop the initial public offering up to $2 billion to ensure its success.
Other underappreciated assets include the companys 60 percent stake in Sony Financial, which largely sells life insurance policies, as well as real estate holdings and stakes in other companies. And Mr. Loeb is expected to argue that Sonys electronics division must sharply reduce costs, including by taking a cue from its protégé, Apple, in focusing on a few core products.
Mr. Loeb has recently expressed his interest in Japan. Referring to the changes by the Abe government, he called it a huge game change at an industry conference last week. And theres a lot more room to go, he added.
Mr. Abe has called his revival effort a plan of three arrows, including aggressive monetary easing by the Bank of Japan and enormous stimulus spending by the government.
So far, that effort appears to have drawn investor plaudits. The yen weakened in value last week, to 100 to the dollar, a level unseen in four years, helping local companies like Sony and Toyota. And the Nikkei 225-stock index has risen 43 percent so far this year. At the same time two years ago, the Nikkei was down 5.7 percent.
Shares in Sony rose 1.2 percent in Tokyo on Tuesday, while the Nikkei closed down 0.16 percent.
But it is the third arrow that has Mr. Loebs attention. The Abe government hopes to shed Japans reputation as a land of strict hierarchy and bureaucracy. Business mistakes were often seen as shameful, and outright confrontation largely disdained.
Theres an entrenched management culture there, said Lawrence B. Lindsey, a former top economist in the administration of President George W. Bush. Activists arent particularly popular here among management, and they wont be popular in Japan either.
No less than Howard Stringer, Sonys own chairman, has criticized the status quo.
Japan is a harmonious society which cherishes its social values, including full employment, he said in a speech last year. That leads to conflicts in a world where shareholder value calls for ever greater efficiency.
Yet there have been changes. The percentage of foreign ownership in companies on the Tokyo Stock Exchange nearly quintupled, to 24 percent, from 1990 to 2008. And Japanese shareholders have increasingly adopted the aggressive tactics of Western fund managers.
Sony is the biggest bet yet for Mr. Loeb, an intense California native who built his name largely upon acidly written letters, berating targets for mismanagement and calling for change.
The strategy has proved profitable. Third Points returns are up 13.3 percent this year and up 2.6 percent for the first week of May. Forbes estimates Mr. Loebs net worth at about $1.5 billion.
Perhaps the most prominent victory has been Third Points investment in Yahoo, where Mr. Loeb pushed for the dismissal of a chief executive after exposing the executive for falsifying academic credentials.
Mindful of Japanese decorum, however, Mr. Loeb strikes a more conciliatory tone in his letter to Mr. Hirai of Sony. His calls are couched as suggestions aimed at improving the company, rather than aggressive demands.
Third Point would not have made this substantial investment if we did not believe in a bright future for Sonys global brand, superior technology, and dedicated employees, he wrote. We are confident that by acting as partners, Sony will grow stronger.
The PS1 was more profitable than the PS2?
Loeb is delusional.
This is actually in exact opposition for what is Kaz's plan for Sony, though. He wants to integrate all of the subsidiaries to work together and spinning-off the 3 media centered sections in the company would go directly against it. This might have been an option earlier when various departments within Sony weren't working together but right now it seems as though they are finally coming around to the idea that they can talk to each other and help create the products that way.