Sony’s shares took a nosedive yesterday after their financial statements were issued, and this year more than $3 billion has been wiped off its market share value, according to reports.
The shares dropped more than seven per cent after the statements to a low not seen for thirty years, when they were just starting to sell the Walkman cassette player in the States.
It’s the TV division that’s struggling the most. “If you wanted a top quality TV [in the past] you had to buy a Sharp, Panasonic or Sony,” said Steve Durose, of Fitch Ratings last month.
“Those days are gone.”
Kazuo Hirai, now Sony’s CEO, is banking on smartphones, claiming Sony will sell more than 33 million of them this year; and on consoles, saying they’ll double sales of the PlayStation Vita to 16 million.
As ever, analysts suggest that the demand for dedicated portable consoles is weakening in the face of competition from smartphones.
Source: 4-traders.
ico
Bring on a vita price cut and some ambassador type option for us early adopters and get cracking with monster hunter. Seriously it’s just the basics they need to get right. Come on Sony, pull your fingers out.