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Sony expected to unveil new strategies

May 21, 2018

By Chris Forrester

Sony’s new CEO, Kenichiro Yoshida, will host the multimedia company’s Investor Relations Day in Tokyo on May 22nd. Each of Sony’s eight key divisions will present to analysts and explain their mid-term 3-year strategies from now to 2021.

Analysts reporting ahead of the event say they expect Yoshida, who was previously CFO prior to his promotion in April, to make some changes to the giant’s road map.

One revenue stream unlikely to be altered is Sony’s online fondness for its PlayStation game-playing subscriptions, where currently the business brings in around $2 billion annually (up 64 per cent over the past 2 years) from 34 million fans paying $60 a year to play online.

However, hardware is a worry. Back in 2011 Sony sold more than 80 million TVs, PlayStation consoles, digital cameras and smartphones. This year the company will be lucky to top 40 million units.

Sony’s chip-making division is also likely to be closely examined, given that operating profits are expected to fall 39 per cent this year.

Last week’s $185 million purchase of Peanuts Holdings, the owners of the Snoopy brand, is perhaps an indicator that Sony will continue to invest in IP and patents seen with growing value.

Analysts are expecting a closer relationship between its Hollywood movie-making and music divisions, and are asking where PlayStation streaming might fit with the launch of a PlayStation 5 model.

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