3D and internet TVs have failed to significantly improve Sony’s sales

Sony has announced that it’s television sales will likely fail to turn a profit this year, with the company losing out to the likes of Samsung andLG in the highly competitive consumer electronics market.

3D and internet TVs have failed to significantly improve Sony’s sales, and is indicative of how the company has fallen behind some of it’s rivals.

Sony has halved it’s television production facilities from eight to four, with production switching to cheaper manufacturers in Asia. Sony’s television arm has been in the red since 2004, and despite insistence that it will return to turning a profit soon, the sales have failed to materialise, coupled with the dropping prices of LCD TVs.

Samsung overtook Sony in terms of LCD TV sales, and Hiroshi Yoshioka of Sony admitted the company needed to change its business model in order to gain ground on the likes of Samsung and LG, both of whom are currently investing large amounts of money into developing their 3D product lines. Yoshioka also sought to lower expectations about the future figures of Sony:

“LCD televisions have become a big business but it’s very tough to make much money in them… It’s not an area where we can earn margins of 5 or 10 per cent.”

Sony do have the edge over LG and Samsung in one department however, with its PlayStation 3 console capable of playing 3D Blu-rays and, of course, 3D games. The PS3 opens up one lucrative area of the 3D market for Sony, with the large distribution of 3D content a power placed predominantly in Sony’s hand, over 3D TV competitors.

3D content will determine 3D TV sales to a large degree, and in this instance Sony has an immediate advantage over both LG and Samsung as it can invest in the development, distribution and marketing of 3D games for it’s flagship console. Gaming is one area that many experts believe 3D will take off hugely, and it is gamers that Sony would do well to cater for with its 3D product plans.

Gaming is an area that they have a proven track record in though, and expectations for this corner of the market cannot be dampened given how much influence they have in it.

Whether Sony will profit from any increase in 3D TV sales remains to be seen however, as LG in particular are pumping colossal amounts into the development of the format, and Samsung are currently the world market leaders in 3D TV sales.

See they full story here: http://www.3dtvwatcher.co.uk/sony-announce-television-sales-warning-1128/