“In a bid to streamline its unprofitable television business, Sony said Monday that it would sell its stake in its flat-panel screen venture with Samsung Electronics, cutting its production capacity at a time when outsourcing has become the norm for manufacturers,” Hiroko Tabuchi reports for The New York Times.
“ony, which makes the Bravia liquid-crystal-display televisions, said in a statement that it would sell its stake of nearly 50 percent in the jointly owned manufacturer, S-LCD, to Samsung, of South Korea, for 1.08 trillion won, or $935 million,” Tabuchi reports. “Sony’s exit from the joint venture, which was set up in Tangjeong, South Korea, in April 2004, will let it switch to less-expensive outsourcing options that may help it to resuscitate its struggling television business. The only other LCD panels Sony manufactures are through its joint venture with Sharp, in which Sony owns a 7 percent stake.”
Tabuchi reports, “Sony ‘aims to secure a flexible and steady supply of LCD panels from Samsung, based on market prices and without the responsibility and costs of operating a manufacturing facility,’ it said in the statement. Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics, the world leader in flat-panel televisions, would gain freer rein in producing its next-generation displays by taking control of S-LCD, Samsung said in a regulatory filing that its board had approved the plan Monday.”
Read more in the full article here.
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Dear Sony, why delay firing that Howard the duck Stringer, when that move alone may save what’s left of that once great company?
Sony bet on the wrong horse a decade ago when they were heavily invested in CRT and LCoS technologies. After flat panel TV prices began dropping, the market quickly shifted away from Sony’s strengths in CRTs and RPTVs.
That LCD partnership with Samsung was the only way that Sony could maintain a manufacturing presence in the flat panel TV market. Even then, they could not make TVs profitably.
With prices as low as they are, and a glut in global LCD production capacity, it probably makes more sense for Sony to outsource the panel manufacturing. Unlike Samsung, Sony did not serve the OEM LCD panel market.
While Sony still uses its LCoS technology in high end front projectors, they’re still in a world of hurt in the short-term. They’ve done a ton of R&D on OLED, and for now, are the only ones to have OLED TVs in production (an 11″ portable a few years ago, and some OLED monitors aimed at the professional market).
OLED was where Sony staked its future in the TV market, but both Samsung and LG are set to debut their own 55″ OLED TVs at CES next month. If Sony does not gain a foothold as the OLED TV market comes to fruition, they might not have a future as a TV manufacturer.
Watch out Sony! You are making yourself largely dependent on Samsung as a component supplier. Just ask Apple how that works…
Samsung has proven itself to not me trustworthy and I believe it is a mistake for anyone to deal with them for anything. I hope Apple and Sony can break their ties with them ASAP.
Boycott Samsung. Friends don’t let friends buy Samsung.
I for one see Sony bouncing back with their quality of products. Their Bravia TV is well designed. It’s slanted backwards a few degrees, which gives it the perfect viewing angle.
Again their Alpha SLR range is there.
The PS3 … is a let down.