Reuters - Sony Are One Point Away From Junk

[dc89]

Sony Corp's long-term debt rating was lowered one notch by Moody's Investor Service to the lowest investment grade level because of shrinking demand for its consumer electronics.


The downgrade to Baa3 from Baa2 follows a one-notch cut by Moody's in October, which also said its outlook on the firm remained negative. Another cut would lower its rating to junk, forcing some funds to offload its debt and curtailing the company's ability to raise money in credit markets.


"Without robust restructuring in the coming 12-18 months, Sony's non-financial services business will at best achieve roughly break even, and are also at risk of remaining unprofitable," the rating agency said in a report.

Sony, in the quarter ended Sept 30, posted a small operating profit, after a loss a year ago, helped by the sale of a chemicals business that offset weak demand for its TVs. The company is also mulling the sale of its New York headquarters, which would also provide a boost to income.


The company maintained its profit outlook for the full business year, but expects to sell fewer of its hand-held PSP and Vita consoles. It also trimmed forecasts for sales of TVs and compact digital cameras.

In the past several months Sony has spent $1.8 billion to buy companies ranging from medical equipment to cloud gaming.


Shares in Sony, valued at less than $12 billion, have dropped around two-fifths since the start of the year. Its stock fell 0.9 percent to 879 yen on Friday.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...nology+News%29

Welp. Like serious welp.

Remember the Vita & PSP forecasts of 16m units this year (10m Vita's 6m PSP's)? Well they cut it. Everyone laughed when they said they'd ship that many, it was a ridiculous figure.

[Fon]

The cloud service purchase was a good move for the future but medical equipment?. Are they still taking heavy hits from their television and cell phone division?. Sony seems to continue their huge investment campaign, they should really just focus on the things that still work.

[Ghost-Rhayne]

Tough days a head for Sony still. Hopefully it can pull through heading into next gen.

[Tutankhamun]

Sony will most likely have to sell of divisions to keep the company floating. The question is, will anyone be interested in anything else than the Entertainment division? And would they split with the Playstation brand? Probably not.

[Soldier 95B]

Too many eggs in one basket it seems. But they are in the middle of a huge re-org and they are being made more efficient. That shit doesn't happen overnight.

[mickice]

My faith is in Kaz.

Right now their mp3 players, tvs, cameras and phones are all quality products, they just don't have the sales to follow.
The only screen to surpass my Bravia is the Oled personal 3D viewer.

[dc89]

Sony Pictures has had a good year though! +20% on last year so far.

[MATRIX 2]

My faith is in Kaz.

Right now their mp3 players, tvs, cameras and phones are all quality products, they just don't have the sales to follow.
The only screen to surpass my Bravia is the Oled personal 3D viewer.

Not really, sony only stands out in a few areas.

[Noxia]

Have to agree. Panasonic and Samsung are first choice for TVs now. Maybe even Lg ahead.

[DeviousOne]

Sony needs to pull out of the tv business... Hvaing a Junk credit rating for a major company is NO JOKE....

[F34R]

Their tv's aren't better than enough brands, and they overprice them... I'm sure that isnt' helping..

[THUGGEDOUT]

Have to agree. Panasonic and Samsung are first choice for TVs now. Maybe even Lg ahead.

Yeah, I currently own a Bravia but may be looking to upgrade to the other brands you mentioned. Shame.

[coolguy]

sony will turn it around. i would never buy an LG tv. LG stands for lousy gold star lol

[radgamer420]

i would never buy an LG tv. LG stands for lousy gold star lol

lol You dont know what youre talking about.

[Soldier 95B]

I thought it stood for Life's Good?

[Yungstar 2006]

think LG stands for Bloody Good 3D TV's......

[Sub-stance1]

I wonder how much this will effect PS4 if any. This is scary stuff.

[MATRIX 2]

I wonder how much this will effect PS4 if any. This is scary stuff.

Sony will have to outsource everything to apple.

They'll call it the iPlaystation.

I can see Johnny Ive doing a design video talking about the aluminum uni body and how thin/light it is.

The best product apple has ever produced.
























/s

[Tutankhamun]

I wonder how much this will effect PS4 if any. This is scary stuff.

I've been worried for a while that they may decide to go down the Nintendo route and doing more of a main stream type of console. Just to lower the production costs.

[MATRIX 2]

I've been worried for a while that they may decide to go down the Nintendo route and doing more of a main stream type of console. Just to lower the production costs.

That would be concession to the xbox, not going to happen.

What will happen is that they don't bother with obscure technology that doesn't pay off with real world performance and ease of development.

[Tutankhamun]

Well, Sony have two choices either go all in and try to match MS in capital investment or position themselves differently than MS. Or, perhaps, they'll surprise and do neither and out smart MS.

I think we can assume MS will always price the Xbox under the Playstation. That's always been their move, not only in gaming.

[MATRIX 2]

Well, Sony have two choices either go all in and try to match MS in capital investment or position themselves differently than MS. Or, perhaps, they'll surprise and do neither and out smart MS.

I think we can assume MS will always price the Xbox under the Playstation. That's always been their move, not only in gaming.

Well when you use more conventional technology, the hardware costs are going to be lower as well.

[TGO]

lol You dont know what youre talking about.

LG is Goldstar
Good quality for less, but they ain't premium like Panasonic or Sony
Samsung's only match Sony's and Panasonics quality when you reach the high end models and the prices match too
The whole Samsung offer what Sony does and more for less is bullshit too
They're good for the price but ya paying the same for the same or more
I have considered Samsung's but the price is the same
LG TV's are feature rich but lack the quality of the other sets

Sent via Codec

[Varsh]

Have you seen the new LG 3DTVs? If I had the money I would've got one of those over my Toshiba. The picture quality on those new TVs are stunning and thenew passive 3D tech on them is out of this world. LG have really hit out on their new TV line and are right up there with the best of them and they're cheaper!

I've been worried for a while that they may decide to go down the Nintendo route and doing more of a main stream type of console. Just to lower the production costs.

Technically speaking Sony are already doing this by going with a mainstream CPU this time around, this time they don't need to spend exorbitant of money on R&D compared to the PS2/3 era as there is no need for newer technology. Microsoft didn't need to spend much on R&D as it was all current technology in the XBox and X360, if Sony does the same then I can expect them to make a profit at launch.

It's just a shame about their other divisions. Their TVs, while very nice, are way too overpriced and I bought a Toshiba and Samsung over a Bravia for that reason alone. Sony need to start pricing their TVs at the mid range again like how Samsung started up. Their products IMO have dropped in quality significantly and they no longer have the same meaning as they did at least 8 years ago. If it wasn't for their gaming division the company would be in administration by now.

[coolguy]

lol You dont know what youre talking about.

lol go to any high def tv forum and ask about LGS. they have poor black levels
i belong to like 4 tv forums LG lets no love, go to http://www.highdefjunkies.com