Company Name: Sony

Full Description

Sony Corporation (Sony), incorporated on May 7, 1946, is engaged in the development, design, manufacture, and sale of various kinds of electronic equipment, instruments, and devices for consumer, professional and industrial markets, as well as game consoles and software. Sony’s primary manufacturing facilities are located in Japan, Europe, and Asia. Sony also utilizes third-party contract manufacturers for certain products. Sony’s products are marketed throughout the world by sales subsidiaries and unaffiliated distributors, as well as direct sales through the Internet. Sony is engaged in the development, production, manufacture, marketing, distribution and broadcasting of image-based software, including motion picture, home entertainment and television products. Sony is also engaged in the development, production, manufacture, and distribution of recorded music. Further, Sony is also engaged in various financial service businesses, including life and non-life insurance operations through its Japanese insurance subsidiaries, banking operations through a Japanese Internet-based banking subsidiary and leasing and credit financing operations through a subsidiary in Japan. In addition, Sony engages in a network service business and an advertising agency business in Japan.
In December 2009, Sharp Display Products Corporation, a joint venture between Sony and Sharp Corporation for the production and sale of large-sized liquid crystal display (LCD) panels and modules was established. In January 2010, the Company's Sony Electronics acquired Convergent Media Systems, a provider of video integration solutions to the enterprise market. In February 2010, the Company established a wholly owned subsidiary, Sony Network Entertainment Inc., in the United States to function as the Company's integrated planner and operator of Internet-based content delivery services to owners of Sony televisions, game machines and other hardware.
Consumer Products and Devices



The Company’s consumer products and devices include Televisions, Digital Imaging, Audio and Video, Semiconductors, Components and Other. The Televisions includes LCD televisions. Digital Imaging includes home-use video cameras, compact digital cameras and digital single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras. Audio and Video includes Blu-ray Disc players/recorders, digital versatile disk (DVD) video players/recorders, home theater, home audio systems, portable audio and car audio. Semiconductors includes charged coupled devices (CCDs), complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors, system LSIs, small- and medium-sized TFT LCD panels and other semiconductors. Components includes batteries, optical disk drives, chemical products, audio/video/data recording media, storage media and optical pickups. Chemical products include materials and components for electronic devices such as circuit boards and adhesives.
Networked Products and Services
The Company’s Networked Products and Services include Game and personal computer (PC) and Other Networked Businesses. Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) develops, produces, markets and distributes PlayStation 3 (PS3), PSP (PlayStation Portable) (PSP) and PlayStation 2 (PS2) hardware and related software. Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC (SCEA) and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd. (SCEE) market and distribute PS3, PSP and PS2 hardware, and develop, produce, market and distribute related software in the United States and Europe. SCEI, SCEA and SCEE enter into licenses with third-party software developers. PC and Other Networked Businesses includes PCs and flash memory digital audio players.
B2B & Disc Manufacturing
The B2B & Disc segment is consisted of the business to business (B2B) business, including broadcast and professional-use products, as well as Blu-ray Disc, DVD and compact disc (CD) disc manufacturing. Global operations in the Pictures segment encompass motion picture production and distribution; television production and distribution; home entertainment acquisition and distribution; a global channel network; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities, and development of new entertainment products, services and technologies. SPE distributes entertainment in more than 140 countries. SPE’s motion picture arm, the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, includes SPE’s principal motion picture production organizations, Columbia Pictures, TriStar Pictures, Screen Gems, Sony Pictures Classics, and the International Motion Picture Production Group.
Sony Pictures Television (SPT) develops and produces television programming for broadcast, cable and first-run syndication, including scripted series, unscripted reality or light entertainment, daytime serials, games shows, animated series, made for television movies and miniseries and other programming. SPT also produces content for the Internet and mobile devices and operates Crackle, a multi-platform video entertainment network focusing on premium video content. SPT also owns or has investments in global networks with 122 channel feeds, which are available in more than 140 countries worldwide. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment produces and distributes SPE’s home entertainment products (DVD and Blu-ray Disc) and, together with Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group, acquires or licenses third party product for distribution in the home entertainment market, as well as other distribution windows. Sony Pictures Digital Production operates Sony Pictures Imageworks, a digital effects studio, and Sony Pictures Animation, a developer and producer of computer graphic animated films. SPE also manages a studio facility, Sony Pictures Studios, which includes post production facilities.
Music
Music segment includes Sony Music Entertainment (SME), Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc. (SMEJ) and a 50% owned United States based joint venture in the music publishing business, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC (Sony/ATV). SME, a global entertainment company, excluding Japan, engaged primarily in the development, production and distribution of recorded music in all commercial formats and genres; SMEJ, a Japanese domestic recorded music business that produces recorded music and music videos through contacts with many artists in all music genres; Sony/ATV, a United States based music publishing business that owns and acquires rights to musical compositions, exploiting and marketing these compositions and receiving royalties or fees for their use.
Financial Services
Sony conducts insurance and banking operations primarily through Sony Life Insurance Co., Ltd. (Sony Life), a Japanese life insurance company, Sony Assurance Inc. (Sony Assurance), a Japanese non-life insurance company, and Sony Bank Inc. (Sony Bank), a Japanese Internet-based bank, which are all wholly owned by SFH. Sony is also engaged in a leasing and credit card business in Japan through Sony Finance International Inc. (SFI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation.
Sony Ericsson is a 50-50 joint venture company between Sony Corporation and Ericsson. Sony Ericsson undertakes product research, development, design, marketing, sales, production, distribution and customer services for mobile phones, accessories, services and applications. All Other consists of various operating activities, including a mobile phone third-party original equipment manufacturing (OEM) business in Japan and So-net, an Internet-related service business subsidiary operating mainly in Japan.

Sony Corp has appointed for the first time a president for its profitable U.S.-based entertainment business, the latest in a series of management changes at the Japanese consumer electronics giant which is trying to bolster its finances.
Sony said on Friday it had appointed Nicole Seligman, the current head of its U.S. operations, to the newly created role which reports to Sony Entertainment Chief Executive Michael Lynton. She will step down as executive vice president and general counsel, although she will continue to advise on legal issues. Her appointment will be voted on at a board meeting on June 19.
Seligman's appointment follows a shake-up at Sony's Tokyo headquarters which included the appointment of Kenichiro Yoshida as chief strategic and financial officer, and who has been lauded by investors for spearheading a restructuring drive.
Sony also came under pressure last year from shareholder Daniel Loeb, chief executive of U.S.-based hedge fund Third Point, to partially spin off its entertainment business because it lacked transparency and was performing below its potential.
Sony Chief Executive Kazuo Hirai rebuffed the proposal, saying it was important for the company to retain full ownership, but has improved disclosure at the unit.
Hirai said at a recent corporate strategy briefing that strengthening the entertainment and financial businesses were among Sony's priorities. Both units are reliable sources of profit for the company which has been weighed down by losses from its flagship electronics division.