Sony was founded in the ruins of the Second World War. Founder Ishida established the "Tokyo Communication Research Institute" in a warehouse of a department store in Tokyo. After inviting another veteran figure, Akio Morita, as senior general manager and representative director. In 1946, Sony's predecessor, "Tokyo Communication Industry Co., Ltd." (hereinafter referred to as "Eastong") was formally established. In the nearly half century, Sony has established the "Sony of Technology" brand image by launching one revolutionary electronic product.
However, this company that once created the myth of the Japanese brand began its recession at the beginning of this century, and now it is a long-awaited old man. In fiscal year 2011 (as of March 31, 2012), the estimated loss of 520 billion yen (about 6.4 billion US dollars), the loss of 6.4 billion US dollars not only set a new record for Sony's loss, but also extended Sony's loss record to the first Four fiscal years. According to Sony's plan, 10,000 employees will be laid off by the end of this year.
On April 1 this year, Mr. Hirai, who was newly elected president and CEO, appropriately expressed his concern about Sony: "As a CEO, I understand the seriousness of the situation. I think it is now the only opportunity for Sony to make changes."
Sony myth
Sony’s first two founders, Iso Sho and Asada, are a near-perfect combination. Ishida is a tireless technical “madman†who specializes in technology research and development. Akio Morita has expertise in business management. A business model dominated by innovative technology products has been identified. And this idea is very different from other companies' ideas to meet people's current needs.
However, at the beginning of its establishment, excessive R&D investment had affected the survival of Dongtong Labor. Until 1955, Dongtong Engineering successfully developed Japan's first transistor radio TR-55. This is a big adventure. In 1955, the radio penetration rate in Japan has reached 74%. Some people think that it is too late for Dongtong to start developing radios. However, Jingshen Da and Shengtian Zhaofu were keenly aware that 74% of the penetration rate is based on households. If people are employed, the market potential is still very large.
At that time, the dominant position in Japan was the vacuum tube radio that could be placed as a furniture. The radio that was developed by Jingshen Da, which uses the latest transistor technology, is small and exquisite, easy to carry, free to choose, no power cord, and many features are just right. Meet the product requirements in individual units. Soon, this "little baby" was accepted by the Japanese, quickly spread in Japan, and successfully exported to the United States. Transistor radio is just the beginning of Sony's success in the new way of winning business. What really made Sony famous is the "single-gun three-beam color picture tube" developed in 1968, the famous Trinitron color picture tube. At that time, Dongtonggong, which had been renamed "Sony", had a small achievement in the field of black and white TVs, but in the competition of the color TV market that began to expand, it was at a disadvantage because of the late start, because it was not willing to be an imitator, plus In the past few years, R&D investment has still not been able to develop new and better products, and Sony has almost gone bankrupt under high R&D costs.
Under the grim situation, Sony executives still decided to seek a breakthrough from a technical perspective. As a general manager of a company with 8,000 employees, Jing Shenda personally took the lead and worked with the technical staff of the research team to develop the technology. He trusted the technicians and encouraged them. Try again and again, and finally successfully developed the Trinitro Color CRT. This kind of CRT TV has better color quality, and it has been well received since its launch. Its sales have become the main source of revenue for Sony in the next 30 years, making Sony a giant in the CRT era.
Based on the Tricolor color TV, Sony has successively launched important electronic products such as Walkman, CD Walkman, and Play Station game consoles in the following decades, and expanded its business scope into music and film and television. The company acquired Columbia Pictures and MGM Studios. The ever-expanding Sony has gradually changed from a small business to a large multinational company with a market value of more than 100 billion US dollars. The "Sony of Technology" brand image is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. It is considered by the Japanese industry to be a symbol of Japan's rapid economic growth and internationalization after World War II. "Sony mythology."
Innovation decline
In 1994, the PlayStation, which was launched under the leadership of the then president, Dahe Dianxiong, became another epoch-making electronic product of Sony. It was also with PlayStation that Sony defeated Nintendo and Sega. However, in the last 20 years, Sony has not launched a subversive electronic product. The long-term accumulation of hidden dangers eventually dragged Sony into the quagmire.
The first problem was Sony's proud support for business color TVs.
In the late 1990s, TV sets began to show a trend from CRT tubes to liquid crystals and plasma panels. According to Sony's innovative capabilities, flat-panel TVs should be launched at the time, but Sony's management was hesitant and did not make The decision to transform: On the one hand, Trinitron has already contributed a decades-long credit book to Sony, which is hard to return. On the other hand, some executives also believe that Trinitron’s global market “hegemony†status is unlikely. being threatened.
It is also around 2000 that the traditional TV industry has matured over the past 50 years, and the competition in the entire industry has shifted to the price and cost of competition. While competitors such as Samsung and Sharp are deploying flat-panel TVs, they rely on low prices and strategies to open up the Chinese market, and sales are gradually catching up and surpassing Sony.
In 2003, Sony’s crisis was fully reflected in its performance. Sony's results show that TV's main business in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2002, a huge net loss of 926 million US dollars, the opening of the Sony TV business for eight consecutive years of losses.
Another area of ​​crisis has followed. With the rise of the Internet and the mobile Internet, rising stars have developed revolutionary products such as iPod, iPhone, and iPad in recent years, and Sony foresees the Internet era in 1997. The arrival, but the action is slow, failed to launch subversive products as before, and even failed to become a qualified follower.
The decline in innovation has become Sony's biggest crisis.
Who ruined Sony
After the loss of the TV business, some investors once pointed to the exit of the CEO in 1995, and even the Japanese media named him the "worst CEO", but the former managing director of Sony, Tianwai Lang, once wrote an article, and Sony’s crisis is not Caused by a certain executive. As a person who entered the company's top level from the time of Jingshen, the view of Tianwai is that compared with the initial period, Sony began to have problems in management concepts in the late 1990s.
The first is the disappearance of the "passion group", that is, the company's tireless and whole-hearted development team no longer exists. Sony's technical team is now mainly influenced by external motives such as making money, promotion or fame; secondly, the disappearance of the challenge spirit. Since Sony introduced the performance management system around 1995, the company's internal pursuit of immediate interests has spread, almost everyone is not willing to propose challenging goals; finally, the team spirit disappears, the company becomes bloated, the upper and lower levels The warmth and trust between them no longer exist.
These changes are obviously inconsistent with the purpose of Sony's founding. In the founding purpose of Dongtonggong, Jingshenda proposed that the company should become the ideal factory to promote the spirit of free and open-minded, so that every technician can maintain a freedom in his dreams. The galloping mentality maximizes the technical energy of oneself."
For the decline of Sony's innovative ability, there is nostalgic circumstances, and the attitude of the company's executives is hard to blame. During the period of Jingshen, some Sony employees did not fear the authority of their superiors. The superiors also appreciated and trusted such subordinates. They did not look at the development of new technologies and products under the eyes of indifference and "evaluation." However, the attitude and management philosophy that encourages innovation during this deep period has not been inherited.
Another issue is the cultural integration of Sony's internationalization. In 2005, Sony decided to be American CEO Howard Stringer. At the beginning of his tenure, Stringer announced the reform policy codenamed "Japan Plan". In addition to the regular closure of factories and layoffs, he also plans to cancel the previous business-owned and independent management methods in the electronic business and strengthen the strategic relationship among various departments. Horizontal cooperation.
Stringer later discovered that the whole reform progressed slowly. Japanese law and tenure employment culture made it difficult to shut down factories and layoffs. The old-fashioned management model of Japanese corporate family did not give him real authority. As an international company, Sony's management is in a state of modern Western management mode and Japanese tradition, which makes Sony's reform and innovation become patchwork and piecemeal. Make a change that is good enough fast enough.
Until 2008, Stringer's reform program began to work, and the right to speak on business integration gradually increased. This is a good start for Sony's recovery, but the year of the year is unfavorable. In 2008, the international financial crisis broke out and the company's overall performance also fell into a quagmire. In 2011, the situation turned better, but the earthquake in Japan in March, the flood in Thailand in July, and the fire in the main warehouse in London in August caused Sony's global supply chain to be hit hard, coupled with the impact of the appreciation of the yen, the expected turnaround It has become a new record of 6.4 billion US dollars in losses, the market value fell to less than 17 billion US dollars, and Stringer also retired in a huge loss.
Now, Sony, who is returning to the helm of Japanese executives, has once again announced the reform plan called “One Sony, Change!†under the leadership of the new CEO, Hirai Kazuo, and proposed many measures such as restructuring the business structure, strengthening the core business and cutting personnel. . Kazuo Hirai once led the PlayStation game department to turn losses. His new plan will improve performance or be effective, but Sony has a long way to go to reshape the brand, and as Kazuo Kazuo said, "The time left for Sony." There are not many."
Sony's fiscal year 2011 financial report announced a loss of 36 billion yuan a year
On May 10, Sony Corporation of Japan announced its fiscal year 2011 financial results as of March 31, 2012. Like other Japanese technology giants, Sony's days are not good, and it has lost 36 billion yuan a year.
In fiscal 2011, Sony’s total sales and operating income was 649.32 billion yen (about 514 billion yuan), a decrease of 9.6% year-on-year. Operating profit from net profit of 1998 billion yen to a net loss of 67.3 billion yen, net loss It expanded from 259.6 billion yen to 456.7 billion yen, a sharp increase of 76%.
Nintendo lost, Sony is no exception
According to the division, the income from consumer products and services business, professional equipment and solutions business decreased by 18.5% and 12.6% respectively. The operating loss was 229.8 billion yen and 20.2 billion yen respectively. The former of the picture and music business increased by 9.6%. The company reduced production by 5.9%, but they all made money. The operating profit was 34.1 billion US dollars and 36.9 billion US dollars respectively. In addition, the financial services business increased by 8.1%, and the operating profit was 131.4 billion US dollars. The acquisition of Sony Ericsson's mobile communication business realized operating profit of 31.4 billion. Dollar.
Sony's fiscal year 2011 financial report
In the past quarter alone, Sony also lost 255.2 billion yen. Although the loss for the same period a year ago was as high as 388.8 billion yen, it was due to a write-down related to one-off tax. Sony said that the main culprit of such a huge loss is the impact of multiple factors such as the earthquake in Japan and the floods in Thailand.
However, Sony is quite optimistic about this year's prospects. It is expected to achieve a net profit of 30 billion yen, an operating profit of 180 billion yen, and an operating income of 7.4 trillion yen, a year-on-year increase of 14%. In 2011, the release of the new handheld PSV is Sony's most important product in the game field. Shortly before the release of this financial report, according to foreign media reports, Sony's PlayStation Vita (PS Vita) game console was launched in the US in March. The company refused to disclose its latest sales data, but stressed that the aircraft is still strong, and sales will remain high in the future.
Sony new console PlayStation Vita
However, this kind of response is obviously not convincing. The world's major game entertainment products manufacturers such as Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft are very willing to announce sales when they are selling well. In the same period, Microsoft Xbox360 game consoles ranked first in the US game console sales, with sales of 371,000 units, while Sony released PSV global sales in February at 1.2 million, far less than Xbox360.
Some analysts believe that Sony is not willing to announce sales at this time because it does not want to continue to reduce the market's market evaluation. Sony's share price has fallen 58% since the beginning of the year, while the Nikkei index fell 13%. At present, Sony's market value is only equivalent to 10% of Samsung and 3% of Apple. Sony expects to achieve an operating profit of 180 billion yen by March 2013 and a net profit of 30 billion yen for the whole year.
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