Sony's President and Chief Executive Officer Kaz Hirai promised shareholders he'll fix the company's "money-losing structure" this fiscal year.
Hirai made the promise at Sony's annual general shareholders' meeting in Japan, where he was heckled by attendees. The Associated Press reported he had to ask hecklers to keep quiet multiple times as he answered questions regarding his performance in leading the company, engineers quitting Sony, poor product quality, and his plans for "wearable" products, like Sony SmartWear.
"The best way to build our future is for Sony to remain Sony, and realize our motto to become a company that inspires and fulfills your curiosity," Hirai said, adding that Sony engineers had great ideas which will become real products.
So far, the PlayStation 4 has done well for Sony. The last official worldwide numbers put the PS4 at 7 million units sold (ahead of Xbox One's 3 million units), and according to the NPD Group's May sales report, it's been the top-selling video game system in the United States for the last five months.
However, Sony's once successful TV division has been losing money for the past decade. Earlier this year, the company also announced that it is selling its PC business and VAIO brand to Japan Industrial Partners, resulting in 5,000 Sony employees around the world losing their jobs. At the time, Sony also announced it will spin off its TV business and operate it as a wholly owned subsidiary. This transition, aiming to help Sony "further enhance its TV business' profit," is expected to be complete by July 2014.
It's also interesting to note that only 4,662 people attended the annual general shareholders' meeting this year, compared to 10,693 last year.
| Emanuel Maiberg is a freelance writer. You can follow him on Twitter @emanuelmaiberg and Google+. |
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