Sony is pulling back on its mobile phones business but, despite rumours of an exit from the market, the Japanese firm said it aims to play a role in developing an as-yet undefined successor to the smartphone.
The electronics giant on Wednesday presented its latest three-year strategy plan that will begin in April. Part of that plan, which is geared towards turning around the company’s fortunes, will see it pull back on spending in two key business areas: mobile phones and televisions.
"[Those two markets] are defined by high volatility and challenging competitive landscapes," Sony CEO Kaz uo Hirai said on a Webcast, via a translator.
"We will manage those businesses firmly and prudently," he said.
Sony has classed its mobile communications and TV businesses as areas in which it will focus on ‘volatility management’; it expects sales to fall, but aims to improve profitability while reducing capital investments. Its other operations are defined either as growth drivers or stable profit generators.
Sony is selling mobile phones and televisions in increasingly commoditised markets where cost competition is fierce, Hirai said. Indeed, in the smartphone space the firm is struggling to keep pace with big guns Apple and Samsung, as well as with a raft of lower-cost players.
Both markets are large in scale and "Sony should excel," utilising its experience in technology and components, Hirai said.
"We will carefully select the markets and products for which the battle will be fought," he said. "We will consider potential alliances with other companies…amongst other options."
The CEO’s comments led to speculation that Sony may well pull out of one or both of the aforementioned troubled businesses. And Reuters quoted Hirai as saying that he would not rule out an exit strategy.
Clearly nothing is off the table for Sony, but Hirai seems reluctant to let go of the consumer mobile side of the business, whatever direction it takes in the years to come.
"After smartphones, what sort of mobile world will unfold and provide value to customers?" Hirai asked.
He did not proffer a possible answer to that question, but indicated that it is something Sony is thinking about, noting that the company has "tried wearables already".
"We can be a survivor and a player to develop new markets," he said. "We have to continue with this business so we can go into the next market after smartphones."
Whether or not Sony sees a role as a ma ker of next-generation mobile devices or merely as a technology contributor remains to be seen.
Hirai declined to share a projected timeframe for any decisions or actions.
"We don’t have any deadline," he said.
