Strategy in TECH...
Korea’s ETNews network is reporting this week that, after weeks of negotiation, LG Display and Sony have signed a comprehensive deal for the supply of OLED panels to be used in new Sony OLED TVs. The deal has been rumored for several weeks now, but ETNews has confirmed that a supply contract has been signed between the parties.
Moody’s Japan announced this week that it has raised its rating on Sony’s credit to Baa3, one step up from “junk.” This is the first time that Sony’s credit has been determined to be “investment grade” in years and reflects the company’s improved financial performance.
Sony told the Nikkei this week that – to paraphrase – after years of painful dieting, the company has reached its fighting weight and is ready to go to battle to grow its sales worldwide. The company has spent the last few years spinning off divisions, cutting back on employment levels, and reducing overhead – all for the express purpose of improving profits. That goal achieved, the company will now focus on sales.
With CEDIA 2016 now over, those of us in the media are left to try and uncover the underlying themes in order to help our readers wrap their heads around just what this particular CEDIA (formerly referred to as the Expo) was all about. But this show is big enough that no one member of the media can possibly visit all booths, talk to all exhibitor executives, and experience all new models. So each of us have our own version of the themes of the show.
Sony Electronics Corp. and Whitledge Designs have partnered to promote Hi-Res Audio – for the car – through Whitledge’s demonstration vehicle known as the “Magic Bus.” The partners say the venture “is designed to bring studio-quality Hi-Res Audio to music enthusiasts everywhere.’
In new data coming out of Japan, Sony has reported their 9-month results for the current fiscal year revealing solid profitability that makes it clear that their turnaround efforts are producing serious and durable results. Of a total of 439 companies reporting YTD (3-quarter) results, a report in the Nikkei had “Sony stealing the spotlight” with a “sharp turnaround” in its bottom line.
CES is back and its bigger than ever. According to the CTA (formerly CEA), the show spans 2.3 million sq.ft. of exhibit space, in which more than 3,600 exhibitors of all sizes and types have set up booths to hawk their wares. The show is expected to draw more than 150,000 attendees and 6,000 member of the press. It is impossible to cover the entire event…it has just gotten too large.
Luckily, with the industry stuck in several well-worn trends, we in the media can focus our attention beyond these usual suspects – automotive tech (autonomous vehicles and related technologies), drones, 4K UHD TV, Internet of Things (IoT), wearables – to new areas (such as Virtual Reality), and iterative updates from current companies.
At this month’s CEDIA Expo, Sony Corp. professed to the attending media corps their continued commitment to the custom integration (CI) channel…trotting out none other than Sony U.S. COO and President Mike Fasulo (in photo at right) to make the case. But what really proved their case were the impressive product introductions – products clearly designed with custom integrators in mind.
We found some interesting stuff here at the start (and from the days leading up to the start) of CEDIA’s 2015 Expo. There was a lot to sift through, but what follows are some of the more interesting products and technologies we found at the start of the show – presented in no particular order.
Bluesound, a division of Lenbrook America, has cut a deal with Best Buy that will result in a national roll-out of the company’s line of high-quality digital multi-room music systems through Best Buy’s Magnolia Design Center locations. The agreement will begin to take effect later this month in a phased introduction into the first 25 locations.
