Form 6-K
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D. C. 20549
FORM 6-K
REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER
Pursuant to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16 of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
For the month of September, 2005
Commission File Number: 001-06439
SONY CORPORATION
(Translation of registrant's name into English)
7-35 KITASHINAGAWA 6-CHOME, SHINAGAWA-KU, TOKYO, JAPAN
(Address of principal executive offices)
The registrant files annual reports under cover of Form 20-F.
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports
under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F,
Form 20-F X Form 40-F __
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the information
contained in this Form is also thereby furnishing the information to the
Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
Yes No X
If "Yes" is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the registrant in
connection with Rule 12g3-2(b):82-______
SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
SONY CORPORATION
(Registrant)
By: /s/ Nobuyuki Oneda
(Signature)
Nobuyuki Oneda
Executive Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer
Date: September 22, 2005
List of materials
Documents attached hereto:
i) Sony Group Mid-Term Corporate Strategy FY2005-FY2007
Sony Corporation
6-7-35 Kitashinagawa
Shinagawa-ku
Tokyo 141-0001
No.05-050E
September 22, 2005
Sony Group Mid-Term Corporate Strategy FY2005-FY2007
Strengthening Group Performance through Revitalization of Electronics
Tokyo, Japan - Sony today announced significant moves to strengthen its
competitiveness by focusing on its three core sectors: electronics,
games and entertainment. In particular, the company is concentrating on
the revitalization of its electronics business through further structural
reforms and promotion of a well-defined growth strategy. Our target is
for the Sony Group to achieve consolidated sales of over 8 trillion yen
and an operating profit margin of 5% (electronics 4%) by the end of fiscal
year 2007. (*1)
As a key part of this initiative, we are significantly reorganizing our
electronics group to place centralized decision-making authority over
key areas under the Electronics CEO. This substantial change abolishes
the company system and assures coordination and focus across newly
defined business groups. Rigorous horizontal coordination in key
areas - product planning, technology, procurement, manufacturing, and
sales & marketing - will allow rapid and streamlined decision making
across product lines. This will also permit uniform software development
that will assure seamless interoperability between our products,
eliminate design and product redundancies, and assure decisive and
rational R&D planning and spending.
In addition, our structural reforms are expected to achieve a 200 billion
yen reduction in costs by the end of fiscal year 2007. This will include
rationalizing unprofitable businesses, reducing the number of product
models, and consolidating manufacturing sites, leading to a reduction
of 10,000 in the global group headcount. We will also review our real
estate, stock holdings and certain non-core assets with a view to making
disposals amounting to 120 billion yen by the end of fiscal year 2007.
Reports on the progress of our structural reforms will be given quarterly.
For our growth strategy in electronics, resources will be focused on HD
products, mobile products and the semiconductors/key component devices
that can further differentiate Sony's products from the competition. A
division to promote the development of Cell processor-related technology,
products and applications will be created reporting directly to Sony's
CEO.
In addition to our strengthened electronics business, we will leverage
all our resources including motion pictures, music, games and our brand
recognition to deliver more appealing products and services as the
world's leading electronics and entertainment company.
(*1 before restructuring and one time charges)
Details are as follows:
Restructuring the Electronics Organization
As mentioned above, we will abolish the existing company system (known
as "Network Companies") and will introduce reorganized operational units
called Business Groups, for specific product categories. Corporate
Executive Officers will be given clear responsibilities at the
Electronics Headquarters level to oversee cross divisional functions
relating to product planning, technology, procurement, manufacturing,
and sales & marketing and will directly support the Electronics CEO.
This significant structural change is designed to eliminate the
corporate silos that have prevented us from focusing our vast resources
on our most competitive products and to foster coordinated, efficient
and rapid decision making.
This new structure will also enable us to prioritize our R&D, putting
resources where they will maximize growth and avoid duplication. We will
reorganize the current laboratory structure accordingly.
Improving our Profit Structure (Structural Reform)
1. Cost Reductions
Our plan is to cut 200 billion yen in costs by the end of fiscal year
2007. We will achieve this through a reduction in the number of business
categories and product models, rationalization of our manufacturing
sites, and creation of a more efficient administrative structure by
eliminating redundancies and overlap in organization and business
processes. Specific elements of the plan are as follows:
- We have identified 15 business categories for which we are
implementing plans including downsizing, alliances and disposals.
- We plan to reduce the number of models by 20% compared to fiscal
year 2005.
- We plan to reduce the number of manufacturing sites by 11, from
65 to 54.
As a result, we will reduce our global headcount by 10,000 by the
end of fiscal year 2007 (headquarters/administrative staff 5000,
non-administrative staff 5000; 4000 in Japan, 6000 overseas). These
reductions will help streamline our operations and enable us to
operate more efficiently.
Estimated charges for these structural reforms are 210 billion yen,
and we expect that these charges will be recouped by the end of fiscal
year 2008.
2. Sale of Real Estate, Stock and Non-Core Assets
We will review our real estate, stock and certain non-core assets with
a view to making disposals amounting to 120 billion yen by the end of
fiscal year 2007.
Strengthening our Current Electronics Business
In electronics, televisions, digital imaging, DVD recorders and portable
audio will be our focus areas, and we will work to establish leading
positions in each market. This will be in tandem with our efforts to
strengthen semiconductor and key component device businesses as an
engine of differentiation.
In particular, we are concentrating on a turnaround for our television
business, by rationalizing manufacturing sites, increasing the ratio of
internally sourced components and centralizing engineering functions.
The target is to be profitable in television by the second half of
fiscal year 2006.
Focusing Resources on Growth Strategy
Resources will be focused on HD products, mobile products and the
semiconductors/key component devices that can continue to differentiate
those products from the competition.
1. Making the HD World a Major Profit Pillar
Sony is already the world's leading HD company and is uniquely
well positioned to enjoy the forthcoming consumer transition to
high-definition products. We have a full range of broadcast and
consumer hardware products, as well as content assets that lead the
industry in HD digitization. Our goal is to make HD World a major
integrated profit pillar. Sony has superb high-end HD technological
resources such as production equipment as well as the 4K projector
which pioneered the era of digital cinema. We will further develop
these and apply them to our consumer lineup. Blu-ray disc - the
highest capacity next generation optical disc format, supported by
many leading companies in every key industry - will also be a
dynamic driver of HD business. Starting with the introduction of
PLAYSTATION 3, we will launch a range of new Blu-ray disc-related
products and HD content throughout fiscal year 2006.
2. Focusing on Intelligent & Interoperable Products
As computing power increases, digital audio and visual consumer
electronics are now operating in a networked communications environment.
With a radically enhanced CPU at their heart, new applications are now
possible. Users will be able to enjoy smart functions that automatically
personalize the content on their devices and will also be able to share
content with other users on the network. Sony is positioning this as a
growth area and will further strengthen our efforts in developing
network-enabled products and applications.
3. Strengthening Technology Development
We will focus engineering resources on semiconductors and key
component devices essential to adding value to products. Key areas
in semiconductors will be games and imaging. In the key component
device area, we will develop innovative technologies for system
LSIs and next-generation displays, as well as Blu-ray disc-related
devices.
- Creation of Home and Mobile Platforms
We will work to develop a system LSI that can be integrated across a
range of home electronics products so that they can handle the rapidly
expanding flow of rich HD content.
In tandem, we will also develop a system LSI for mobile products to
enhance their performance and lower power consumption. This will result
in more efficient engineering solutions and speedier product
development.
- Concentrating Investment on Semiconductors and Key Component Devices
Blu-ray Disc-Related Devices/Imagers/Cell
We will continue to strengthen our development programs in Blu-ray
disc-related devices, such as blue-violet laser diodes that are at
the heart of the realization of HD World. CCD and CMOS image sensors,
which are already highly competitive, remain a focus for continuing
enhancement.
- Next-Generation Display
Our focus will be self-luminous flat panel Organic Light Emitting Diode
(OLED) displays and we will establish a Display Device Development
Group that directly reports to the Electronics CEO to accelerate
development.
- Enhancing Software Development
We will significantly strengthen our software development to assure
smooth interoperability and superior user interfaces across the
electronics business and in areas such as middleware, applications,
codec and DRM. As a first step, we will establish a Technology
Development Group. One mission of this group is to effectively
utilize our global resources for software development including
expanded resources in the U.S. and China.
Group Convergence Strategy
Pursuit of mobile entertainment
We are moving into an era where music, video and games can be
distributed on the network and enjoyed on mobile devices. In this
environment, Sony will work to regain its position of leadership in
portable audio and establish a strong position in the rapidly
developing portable video market. Our goal is to develop products
and services that enable consumers to enjoy entertainment content
"on the go."
Establishment of Cell Development Center
Broadband infrastructure is rapidly expanding and the Cell processor,
with its advanced functionality and compatibility across a range of
products and applications, will be the key component device. Sony will
establish the Cell Development Center under the direct supervision of
Sony's CEO to promote development of Cell-based technology, products
and applications.
Group Strategy by Individual Sector
Games
The first priority is the successful introduction of PLAYSTATION 3
next spring, an event that will strengthen the entire Sony Group and
further grow the market for computer entertainment. The ratio of
internally-sourced games software will be increased and links with
electronics and entertainment expanded. PlayStation Portable's market
position will be solidified and its functions will be enhanced.
Entertainment
Motion Pictures: Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) has a broad and
diverse set of profit centers including theatrical releases,
television licensing and DVD sales. With the industry's largest
library of digitized content, SPE will strive to continue its
pattern of stable growth. The advent of new media like UMD and
Blu-ray disc will provide many platforms to leverage SPE's digital
content assets and strengthen linkages with other businesses in the
Sony Group. The recently acquired MGM library for which SPE has sole
distribution rights is also being rapidly digitized and will provide
new opportunities for growth and profit.
Music: The positive effects of the Sony BMG joint venture will continue
to be harnessed to strengthen the company's management. Sony BMG will
aggressively pursue its digital distribution strategy and exploit new
opportunities in packaged media from formats such as UMD and Blu-ray
disc. Sony Music Entertainment Japan continues to show vigorous growth
both in sales and profit.
Mobile Phones
Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications is working to develop unique
products that will leverage the entertainment assets of the entire
Sony Group. The Walkman Phone is a great example of the way forward.
Financial Services
Our Financial Services division continues to deliver strong and
consistent results, maintaining profit margins which are among the
highest in the Sony Group, thus contributing greatly to our overall
financial performance. All three businesses - Sony Life, Sony Assurance,
and Sony Bank - continue to be held in high regard by customers. The
previously-disclosed IPO plan has been postponed until fiscal year 2007
or beyond.
Network Services, Retail
Sony Communication Network Corporation is targeting an IPO for this
fiscal year to allow it to develop an independent strategy for growth
and the realization of its corporate value.
In our retail businesses, we will explore strategic alternatives to
maximize the value of the assets, including alliances with relevant
partners.
Cautionary Statement
Statements made in this release with respect to Sony's current plans,
estimates, strategies and beliefs and other statements that are not
historical facts are forward-looking statements about the future
performance of Sony. Forward-looking statements include, but are not
limited to, those statements using words such as "believe," "expect,"
"plans," "strategy," "prospects," "forecast," "estimate," "project,"
"anticipate," "may" or "might" and words of similar meaning in
connection with a discussion of future operations, financial
performance, events or conditions. From time to time, oral or written
forward-looking statements may also be included in other materials
released to the public. These statements are based on management's
assumptions and beliefs in light of the information currently available
to it. Sony cautions you that a number of important risks and
uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from those
discussed in the forward-looking statements, and therefore you
should not place undue reliance on them. You also should not rely on
any obligation of Sony to update or revise any forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise. Sony disclaims any such obligation. Risks and uncertainties
that might affect Sony include, but are not limited to (i) the global
economic environment in which Sony operates, as well as the economic
conditions in Sony's markets, particularly levels of consumer spending;
(ii) exchange rates, particularly between the yen and the U.S. dollar,
the Euro and other currencies in which Sony makes significant sales or
in which Sony's assets and liabilities are denominated; (iii) Sony's
ability to continue to design and develop and win acceptance of its
products and services, which are offered in highly competitive markets
characterized by continual new product introductions, rapid development
in technology and subjective and changing consumer preferences
(particularly in the Electronics, Game and Pictures segments, and music
business); (iv) Sony's ability to implement successfully personnel
reduction and other business reorganization activities in its Electronics
segment, and music business; (v) Sony's ability to implement successfully
its network strategy for its Electronics, Pictures and Other segments,
including the music business, and to develop and implement successful
sales and distribution strategies in its Pictures segment and music
business in light of the Internet and other technological developments;
(vi) Sony's continued ability to devote sufficient resources to research
and development and, with respect to capital expenditures, to correctly
prioritize investments (particularly in the Electronics segment); (vii)
shifts in customer demand for financial services such as life insurance
and Sony's ability to conduct successful Asset Liability Management in
the Financial Services segment; and (viii) the success of Sony's joint
ventures and alliances. Risks and uncertainties also include the impact
of any future events with material unforeseen impacts.