Despite statements from their CEO Kazuo Hirai that were apparently misconstrued, the Mobile division of Sony will not be for sale anytime soon. This is according to Hiroki Totoki, the head of that particular division. "It's completely untrue," was his strong statement to a French daily newspaper, when asked about any sort of plan to offload their section of the company.
In fact, Totoki said that the CEO's presence at the ongoing Mobile World Congress is a sign that they still mean business when it comes to their smartphones and tablets. His speech at the conference will be about "the importance of this business for Sony." However, Totoki admits that right now they need to refocus their strategy as their portfolio of products may be too diverse. Because they believe that consumers now tend to hang on to their smartphones or tablets longer, they will also be slowing down in terms of launching new products in order to adapt to this changing landscape.
Recently, speculation has been ripe about the eventual fate of the mobile division, after Hirai's speech at CES 2015. “Electronics in general, along with entertainment and finance, will continue to be an important business, but within that there are some operations that will need to be run with caution - and that might be TV or mobile, for example," he said. Some people who work within Sony have said that no division within the company is safe from being sold.
While the company as a whole may not necessarily be in trouble, their profits have not been the same as their heyday. They have had to sell off their VAIO computer business while their TV business is also rumored to be on the brink of being sold. It would be interesting to hear what Hirai will have to say during his speech at the MWC.
VIA: Reuters