Well here is a great link that explains things pretty well.

It's not nearly as dire as some are making it out to be, essentially it's just more honesty in their failures to bring the phone division to a successful one, and they are making moves to streamline that business by not bringing out so many models.

Obviously it's not GREAT news by any stretch either. BloomBerg is a serious financial group, and they don't mention even the possibility of Sony going under (and that was frequently mentioned during far worse years previously over the last decade).

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-17/sony-forecasts-wider-full-year-loss-on-smartphone-competition.html

They are pretty much a finance and playstation company by now, right?

They should abandon everything else. They seem to be getting worse and wor- oh wait. They still have Phones on the market.

I read Bloomberg's article, too, and it's among the more levelheaded articles I've read about Sony's financial situation. While Sony's smartphones are great, Sony is biting off more than it can chew. At this point, Sony should just release their phones in markets where they can make profits.

Also, interesting quote by Yasuo Sakuma courtesy of Reuters:

"Whether they cut their forecast four, five or six times it doesn't really matter. What's more important for the market is whether this (restructuring) will put an end to their problems as they've said it will," said Yasuo Sakuma, portfolio manager at Bayview Asset Management in Tokyo.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/17/us-sony-outlook-idUSKBN0HC0EC20140917

WhiteEaglePL said: They are pretty much a finance and playstation company by now, right? They should abandon everything else. They seem to be getting worse and wor- oh wait. They still have Phones on the market.

Their high end phones are exceptionally well reviewed by owners. Their HUGE HUGE HUGE HUGE mistake was not getting deals made with ATT/Verizon/etc. Not sure if it's due to Samsung/Apple conspiracy, incompetence/misunderstanding of the market, or what, but the fact is :

The VAST majority of Americans who buy smartphones do NOT buy them at full value and then have a sensible cheap phone plan. They instead can't afford that, so they get long term contracts and 'discounted' smartphones, which then tie them to REALLY expensive long-term contracts with ATT/Verizon/etc.

But they only got a deal with T-Mobile, which is a bit player overall. So they are definitely not where they should be.

If they got a big contract like that, and then cut out most of the business, they would do okay. They need to drop all the models except one or two at most per year, high end only. China has the low end locked up, and they should focus on cutting costs massively. If they can't get deals with major phone companies to promote them, then they should end phones entirely.

My personal favorite was the guy saying Notch should buy Sony.

Sadly the only thing Sony has going for them is the PS4.
TVs, Music, Phones, Computers, Vita, even Movies are all dragging Sony down.

Arkaign said: WhiteEaglePL said: They are pretty much a finance and playstation company by now, right? They should abandon everything else. They seem to be getting worse and wor- oh wait. They still have Phones on the market. Their high end phones are exceptionally well reviewed by owners. Their HUGE HUGE HUGE HUGE mistake was not getting deals made with ATT/Verizon/etc. Not sure if it's due to Samsung/Apple conspiracy, incompetence/misunderstanding of the market, or what, but the fact is : The VAST majority of Americans who buy smartphones do NOT buy them at full value and then have a sensible cheap phone plan. They instead can't afford that, so they get long term contracts and 'discounted' smartphones, which then tie them to REALLY expensive long-term contracts with ATT/Verizon/etc. But they only got a deal with T-Mobile, which is a bit player overall. So they are definitely not where they should be. If they got a big contract like that, and then cut out most of the business, they would do okay. They need to drop all the models except one or two at most per year, high end only. China has the low end locked up, and they should focus on cutting costs massively. If they can't get deals with major phone companies to promote them, then they should end phones entirely.

Do you think Sony's deal with Sprint will do anything? While Sprint is much bigger than T-Mobile, it's still not as big as getting a deal with Verizon or AT&T.

Sony has a deal in place with sprint tmo and verizon for the z3 series. Lets get that straight.

so... i think thi is game over for Hirai-san, Who should be the next head of sony ?

Oh, I didn't know that. Hopefully, the Z3 series does well because it really deserves it. I read comparisons between the iPhone 6+ and the Xperia Z3. The Z3, by far, trumps the iPhone whether it be screen resolution, camera, processing power, or waterproofness. I'm highly considering getting one myself once my 4S finally dies. ^_^