Sony has put rest to speculations that surfaced yesterday, and officialy announced that it is selling off its VAIO PC division. The company will be selling its famous line of personal computers to Japan Industrial Partners Inc. (JIP) for an undisclosed amount. Sony is also laying off 5,000 staff as part of major restructuring plans.
Financial details of the deal were not disclosed however Japanese media have reported that the deal was worth between 40 billion yen and 50 billion yen. The Vaio business unit will be transferred to a Japanese company that is expected to focus on making devices purely for the Japaneses market. Apparently a few hundred Sony employees will transfer over to the new entity.
Sony said, “Following a comprehensive analysis of factors, including the drastic changes in the global PC industry, Sony’s overall business portfolio and strategy, the need for continued support of Sony’s valued Vaio customers, and future employment opportunities for personnel involved in the Vaio business, the Company has determined that concentrating its mobile product lineup on smartphones and tablets and transferring its PC business to a new company established by JIP is the optimal solution.”
The sale of VAIO isn’t a big surprise, as Sony’s PC business has long underperformed its other divisions. According to the analysts Gartner, PC shipments fell 10 percent in 2013, returning to 2009 levels, marking the worst ever decline. Giving insights about TV business Sony stated that it expects to spend 20 billion yen restructuring its PC and TV segments, with a focus on high-end sets and 4K screens. The company hopes these changes will allow its TV arm to become profitable again by the end of fiscal 2015.
Sony will invest 5 percent of the new company’s capital to fund the launch and transition. The company will then shift its gears to hone in on its new core businesses of imaging, gaming, and mobile, which will focus on smartphones and tablets under its Xperia brand.
Source: The Next Web
Image Source: Digital Trends
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