Sony is bleeding money - business strategy discussion

Why do you think point and shoots and DSLRs are going down every year? Its because smartphones' cameras are getting better and better. The iphone 6 and Samsung s6 are both sporting sony sensors and Sony makes $20 off each iphone sold.
which is less than they would on a point and shoot.

But hey , you can watch that market dry up.
 
which is less than they would on a point and shoot.

Selling sensors for incorporation into other folk's cameras and smart phones is a high volume, low-risk market. Sony manufacture and ship products to other manufacturers and they don't have to worry about stocking, distributing, marketing, selling or supporting those other products - they're all headaches for the integrator.

Sony sensors were in 40% of all all devices sold last year. I'd take high volume, no headache, lower profit over the alternative any day of the week. Sony have a camera-sensor-laying golden goose and it's arse is very sore.

What are Sony's margins on their cameras vs. sensors anyway? That's kind of important information.
 
Actually Sony has been making a lot of waves in the camera market with their EVIL cameras and high-end point and shoots like the RX100. They just announced two cameras, both capable of 4K video, this month. Not sure if these efforts are translating into marketshare but they've been releasing cameras at a much faster pace than the competition.

They're certainly behaving like they're all-in for the enthusiast and pro camera markets.
 
Actually Sony has been making a lot of waves in the camera market with their EVIL cameras and high-end point and shoots like the RX100. They just announced two cameras, both capable of 4K video, this month.
The major industry excitement here seems to be more Sony making 4k sensors available, so 4k becoming a prosumer level thing. Although whether people want 4k or not (will they upgrade their camera for it?) is a question mark.
 
4K recording on their mirror-less full frame cameras is just a tiny kinda-gimmicky thing to attract attention.

The point is that those cameras are absolute monsters in their own right, and if it takes the 4K PR to get people to pay attention, then so be it. They are incredible pieces of kit.
 
4K recording on their mirror-less full frame cameras is just a tiny kinda-gimmicky thing to attract attention.

The point is that those cameras are absolute monsters in their own right, and if it takes the 4K PR to get people to pay attention, then so be it. They are incredible pieces of kit.
Indeed they are.
And 4k video is interesting for stills shooters as well, when it gets to the level Panasonic has brought it to, where you can extract any frame from the 4k flow. Those 3840x2160 files yield quite decent images, and capturing the moment was never easier.

At this point in time, self-shot 4k content is one hell of a lot more common than 4k media. (And can look great!) it's interesting to see this technology shift driven from underneath so to speak, and how this completely escapes the media buffs. :)
 
Gaming division profits up, imaging sensor profits up, insurance/finance division profits up.

Phone sales down and losses dragging down profitable divisions.
 
Sony Pictures also made a loss. That division has a very chequered history profit-wise.
 
Mobile is not as bad as I thought. When they decided to focus on the high end, everything depended on the Z series. Then their flagship was delayed because there were major issue with the qualcomm 810 chipset.

They have a smartphone announcement on Monday, rumored to be an edge-to-edge screen, SLR-like focus speed, and an a Mediatek chipset. The media reception should be interesting to watch. Innovate or die.

But it's way too early to announce a new xperia Z, maybe it's a tablet or phablet or something.
 
Great cameras don't seem a meaningful feature in the typical tablet. What if its something like a Windows phone? That'd be interesting!
 
It is awesome that nobody at Sony have thought yet of replacing Nokia as the provider of phones with incredibly good camera (sensor and optical part).
It is written on the wall that they should do it, they can do it but will they do it?
 
http://www.dxomark.com/Mobiles

The entire top ten is using a sony sensor, and every single xperia Z have placed in the top three during their launch period. Nokia is long gone. They made one phone with a great camera in 2012.

There's little room for improvement when everyone is using the same sensor in the high end, other than a brute force expensive and bulky phone.
 
It isn't that there isn't a market for big sensor on phones, but that market is very small. That is why they created the camera attachment thing, which I believe is the right direction. They just need to make the connection more responsive (right now there's a bit of lag).
 
Camera attachement is even more niche /boutique. A phone akin to the Nokia 808 or 1020 or galaxy zoom doesn't have to sell as a galaxy S or other flagships or even sell in insane quantity, it is just weird that Sony does not provide such a model as they produce the sensors and have the how to with their compact cameras they have imho a competitive edge on the competition.
 
Although Nokia 808 and 1020 and Galaxy zoom got a lot of coverage in tech blog, I don't think it sold well enough. When was Galaxy zoom released? Why Samsung haven't release a newer version?
 
I prefer Sony to continues XOERIA U and SP ...

Phone with huge and bright easily seen notification LED? none other then those phones.

My xoeria so is creaky old. Broken power button. Temperamental speaker. Screen filled with yellow mold and water moisture

Really want to replace it but Sony has not continued the lines...
 
Back
Top