Sony might separate its camera sensor business
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- Anonymous
- Jw1
- 1 hour ago
YourLocalPhoneCritic, 9 hours agoThe only industry that Sony excels at. And even then, Samsu... moreYeah, you're absolutely right, Sony is a mediocre company. All of the PS5 accessories are terrible. Sony's animated films like "The Emoji Movie" were hated. The worst part is that the non-Pro PS5 has gone up in price and is now a very expensive console. Thank god we have Xbox, thank you Microsoft
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- Anonymous
- 70d
- 3 hours ago
astolfo, 8 hours agoImagine calling Samsung Foundry a chip "manufacturing&... moreWhat chips Japan manufactures?
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- Anonymous
- rK@
- 4 hours ago
Daimon, 5 hours agoIndeed. Xperia is a dead brand.Which makes me very sad, a decade ago I used to carry two phones with me one was the Blackberry Z10 and a Sony Z1 compact
One of those brands died and the other is highly irrelevant in current market
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- Smallworld
- mmY
- 7 hours ago
Anonymous, 8 hours agoI was thinking the same about first part of your comment. E... moreNo Sony must not try to sell more phones. Doing that would require billions in investment with still no chance of competing against Chinese brands, apple and Samsung. The market is currently locked. It's impossible for non-Chinese brands to penetrate. Even Google is struggling (but profitable), Pixel phones don't sell as much as people think despite the brand being quite old already.
I don't think spinning off the Xperia brand would do anything for them, it's a dead brand and I don't see which company would want to purchase it in the future.
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- Blue
- IJC
- 7 hours ago
David, 11 hours agoProbably the only division other than PlayStation that make... moreWhat reports have you been reading lmao Sony hasn’t lost money in ages
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- astolfo
- GBh
- 8 hours ago
YourLocalPhoneCritic, 9 hours agoThe only industry that Sony excels at. And even then, Samsu... moreImagine calling Samsung Foundry a chip "manufacturing" process when nothing worth owning has came out of it. All chips made on SK are pretty poor compared to their peers.
Japan does makes chips, but they arent your common ARM chips, that's why you wont hear about them on the news.
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- astolfo
- GBh
- 8 hours ago
If they do, prepare yourselves to see the same crappy sensor sold under 4 different names during 6 years. That's all shareholders care about and when the brand goes down, they just leave onto the next victim
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- Anonymous
- nU2
- 8 hours ago
Smallworld, 9 hours agoThat would be strange as the camera sensor business was one... moreI was thinking the same about first part of your comment. Even if profit is lower than 5 years ago it's still confirmed to be a stable source of profit for many years to come, because phone cameras will always be in demand.
I don't agree with second part of comment. They should leave imaging/sensing as it is. It may be better to try that out with phones, certain weaknesses Sony has in developing/marketing/selling smartphones can be mitigated that way, while Sony keeps certain amount of control to ensure unique features like MicroSD card and Headphone jack are still retained.
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- Anonymous
- nU2
- 8 hours ago
brsdrgn, 11 hours agoThere are definitely pros and cons, and knowing Sony's... more"but sometimes their decisions based on what customers actually want seem a bit slow or off. So, just because the sensor business gets more investment as its own thing doesn't automatically mean better products for us."
Ok, which company in existence today actually base their decision on what customers actually want??
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- Anonymous
- Iby
- 8 hours ago
This reads like when Toshiba sold off their chip division a number of years back, except Sony isn't even in any financial trouble as far as I know? And even if they did need hard cash, they could issue bonds or get a financing note on great terms, because as other commenters have pointed out, they are profitable. This makes no sense.
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- Smallworld
- mmY
- 9 hours ago
David, 11 hours agoProbably the only division other than PlayStation that make... moreYou are clearly misinformed Sony's Q3 2024 operating income was $3.2B with PS and camera sensors. Without PS and camera sensors, it's $1.7B. All the division are profitable. The assumption that Sony isn't a profitable company without PlayStation is at least 10 years outdated. They've turned around all their businesses a long time ago and they all make money.
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- Smallworld
- mmY
- 9 hours ago
That would be strange as the camera sensor business was one of the most profitable business for years as phones were getting more and more cameras every year (most premium phones now have 4 cameras).
Spinning off the division to increase its value while retaining a majority stake would be wiser.
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- YourLocalPhoneCritic
- sn2
- 9 hours ago
The only industry that Sony excels at. And even then, Samsung with their ISOCELL sensors are coming after them.
Gaming/Entertainment aren't enough. Audio Products aren't unique. Nobody buys Xperia phones, Vaio laptops or Bravia TVs anymore. LG/Samsung/Huawei have their own in-house OS, unlike Sony. "Sharp" is a brand nobody heard of.
SK, TW & CN can fab their own chips whereas Japan can't!
PS Portal is a joke. PSVR2 is not standalone & can only be used for games. PS5 Pro is dumb. Gamers aren't happy with Sony. Movie critics aren't happy about culture wars in Sony productions. Inzone/Audio accessories are not special.
Sony's whole future (Japan's whole future) relies on cameras & Image sensors... it's crazy!
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- Alexander G
- S3L
- 10 hours ago
Beware American investors bearing gifts. Many a company has fallen on the altar of 'shareholder value'. One wonders if there is geopolitical dynamic also - keep foreign firms weak by parceling off key assets and compromising long-term growth.
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- Anonymous
- 7@8
- 10 hours ago
brsdrgn, 11 hours agoThere are definitely pros and cons, and knowing Sony's... moreSony, cautions? The company that tried to plant rootkits on ALL COMPUTERS IN THE WORLD? Sony, cautions? Really? 😂
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- Anonymous
- rK@
- 10 hours ago
brsdrgn, 11 hours agoThere are definitely pros and cons, and knowing Sony's... moreChinese may switch to homegrown omnivision now that they have 1" type sensor, and that's going to be a big problem for SONY
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- Anonymous
- xH@
- 10 hours ago
Not surprised if this decision is being made because of Trump. I get his "America First" agenda, but he really needs to take a break from it.
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- vill
- TjU
- 10 hours ago
wow finally phones with middle range camera sensors?
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- brsdrgn
- n9x
- 11 hours ago
There are definitely pros and cons, and knowing Sony's cautious nature as a Japanese company, I doubt they'd rush into this.
The argument for it seems to be about letting the sensor business get more investment because some investors specifically want to put money into that kind of tech. While the sensor division is under Sony, those specific investors might be missing out. However, it's also possible that Sony's current diverse portfolio, including the strong sensor business, already attracts a different kind of investor.
The idea isn't necessarily about Sony getting new money overall, as they're already public. It's more about the sensor business potentially being valued higher as its own company, which could ultimately benefit Sony's current shareholders.
One interesting thought is that if the sensor division becomes its own stable entity, maybe the rest of Sony (PlayStation, movies, etc.) could take more risks and be more innovative without jeopardizing the whole company.
You know Sony – they're great at tech, especially sensors, but sometimes their decisions based on what customers actually want seem a bit slow or off. So, just because the sensor business gets more investment as its own thing doesn't automatically mean better products for us.
I also wonder how this would affect their professional cameras, since they make their own amazing sensors. Would they become just another customer?
Overall, while the idea of more investment and a potentially higher valuation for the sensor business sounds good on paper, we also need to consider Sony's conservative approach and how this split might impact their other successful divisions. It's probably not a done deal, and these news reports could even be trying to nudge Sony in that direction. So, take it all with a grain of salt!