Image source: Wikimedia
Engagdet reports that Sony is now selling their own Tokyo Headquarter too! Sony estimates it will earn 15 billion yen ($146.5 million) though the sale of the historical building. Engadget also writes:
Locals have blasted the potential move, however, arguing that the company’s “birthplace,” where founders Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka worked on the Walkman and Trinitron TV, should be exempt from its restructuring efforts
This is all part of a world wide restructuring program. And as I told you before the Digital Imaging business is one of the Sony’s key businesses they want to focus on. So, at least we don’t have to worry about the A and E-mount system future. What has to be seen is how long it will take for Sony to get rid off all other unprofitable businesses to get back to financial growth.
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we don’t have to worry about the A and E-mount system future? Hard to say…. Time will tell…
Kind of sad when a part of history fades away.
That actually depends on people remembering.
When companies restructure and struggle, they don’t always keep / get rid of what makes sense.
It’s starting to feel like Kodak!
Agree. I am getting very bad vibes….
The Japanese dont just do stuff like this.
Actually, good business practice means that you get rid of non performing assets. If you want a company to thrive, you have to make decisions that are not always popular but hopefully, in the end, the cost cutting and jettisoning of the non performing businesses results in a stronger company. Look at Ford. A few years ago, they were in fairly bad shape. Now, arguably, they are the strongest of the American car companies. Nostalgia is nice, but looking back too much at the past doesn’t allow a clear view to the future.
Television sets, for the most part, are commodity items without high profit margins. Sony was the high flyer, then Samsung. Now, even Samsung’s market leadership is eroding, threatened by a slew of lower cost Chinese products. 4k may be the high margin product of today, but that too will drop in price, reducing profitability. Some markets are too competitive to be truly lucrative, unless the products are compelling enough that high prices still result in good sales numbers.
That’s true enough, but an argument can be made that most consumer electronics are commodity items. The problem is, such products have been a huge portion of the lifeblood of the Sony Corporation.
When you start to sell of body parts because ‘it’s just a commodity,’ where do you end up?
Sony is disposing of it’s quick-hit consumer segments. Next time it will start to jettison its second tier, smaller LOBs. The camera division has to be under very tight scrutiny right now.
The question is, who is most likely to buy the camera division once it’s spun off? A Chinese interest? If we are lucky; hopefully it doesn’t just disappear.
The problem is, Sony has to race Panasonic for that honor. Whichever former consumer electronics giant spins off their camera division first will win. Because who will be left to buy the remaining one?
Sad times for us all. I would love to see the division spun off to become a standalone company called Minolta or something. But without massive funding and no clear profit horizon, that’s not really feasible.
Sony specifically said that they want to develop their imaging business, so I seriously doubt that the camera division is going anywhere. Also, their sensor business is apparently doing rather well and it is tightly related to the camera division.
They are very profitable with sensors for phones and dx cams, maybe they will concentrate on it and jettison the camera body division. Medium formats are new business opportunities for sensors too, but in much lower volumes than full fames. Crop sensors have been taking the biggest slice, though toshiba is nibbling a little of that pie.
1 – The sensor business is doing well for Sony. This would have to fail before the alpha division.
2 – The broadcast & professional video division of Sony is a market leader. This provides further synergy for the alpha division, particularly as the hybridization of the dslr & video camera continues.
3 – Minolta still exists in some form owned by Konica. So if it was spun off – well that name is taken.
Sony is devoting a lot of resources to their camera division. The products may not suite you or some other people, but other people seem to like them. And there are no signs within Sony that they are giving up on making cameras, let alone on their imaging business.
This is why it has never made any sense for Apple to get into the television business despite the endless proclamations of the know-nothing analysts.
Not really. Ultimately Kodak did not have much to fall back on other than patents. The Kodak leadership ran the company into the ground, milked it dry via its patent sale (which they sold for a below value price) and then bailed out with its retired pensioners holding the bag as it slid into bankruptcy.
Sony has far stronger businesses to focus on and is proactively making difficult decisions to restructure to reposition it for the future and avoid bankruptcy or fire selling.
The Kodak CEO that was brought in from Lexmark wanted Kodak to sell photo printers, as that was going to be the big money maker.
Too bad Kodak didn’t become an independent lens maker, like Sigma and Tokina, producing alternatives for Sony, m43, etc.
EVERY time one of these things happens, we should all worry more about the future of A and E mount…..it’s foolish to say we dont have to worry. These are not good things…regardless of how much money it brings in.
What is going to be left, when they are finished restructuring?
what happens when they’ve sold off all their properties, cut all thier poorly perfoming products, and their still losing money….? its on the horizon. Sony is circling the drain…
Sony is going under. Not surprised at all.
You know, Canon’s camera sales are going down as well. Sony’s entertainment division is doing much better now. If only they’d release good movies, they may actually be making a profit. Honestly, who greenlights movies like Pompeii? Their movie executives need to be axed.
Poor Sony. In a few months, there wont be any reason for SAR to even exist…
Selling properties, closing 20 retail stores, spinning off their TV division, closing their PC division, No new developments at all for A-mount in over a year…
I’d say the END OF SONY IS QUITE NEAR! BTW, I’ll soon list my gear on Ebay and Dyxum for sale. A850, A99, A77, 70-200GII, 70-400GI, 500 Reflex, 135, 100 macro, Zeiss 24-70 and lots of accessories. Will post links.
Looking forward to the links being posted. Hopefully, your full panic mode will be reflected in your fire sale pricing.
Are you smoking?
..aand buy what? 🙂 you’re silly…
ADMIN. Seriously dude. Learn to write.
You wrote “Sony sells it’s old historical tokyo headquarter!”
This means: “Sony sells it is old historical…”
It is not “it’s,” it is “its”. And it is “headquarters,” not “headquarter.” Headquater means to slice a head into four pieces, and that is disgusting.
He is Italian, English is not his native language. Surely, you, like the rest of us can get past a few language errors.
Oops, some punctuation errors in my post above. I better go learn to write 😉
I wish I could go back and edit…
See? 🙂 So, it is actually better to correct people, that’s how we learn. Although, it should be done in a civilized manner.
Thanks for your writing lessons. Now we learned how to spell “headquater”. And that “quater” implies four pieces.
Epic troll fail.
English isn’t his first language… you pompous pedantic prick.
There are lots of business experts on this board.
Another sad story. Sony is going in a complete wrong direction. They want to lead the 4k future but thats nonsense they cant make profit with their expensive 4k tvs. Just look how quick prices are dropping even now on 4k tvs like hisense…
They are selling ps4s like bread and butter but they dont even make mony with the consoles, only with games and accessories.
I dont think that camera business will help sony at all. I think fuji will soon be innovater nr 1, their cameras are brilliant see xt1.
They rushed a7/a7r and its getting cheaper because of the flaws
I wouldnt wonder if nikon or fuji would buy sonys camerabusiness and thats it.
You do realize that Nikon’s capitalization is not nearly enough to purchase Sony? When Canon and Nikon cameras drop in price, people think it’s a good thing. When Sony drops prices, it’s the sign of impending doom.
No camera is without flaws. The A7 and A7R seem to have many users that are perfectly happy with their cameras. Not all users, mind you, but I have yet to see a product without flaws or without critics.
I am glad that Nikon, for example, is finally offering to replace the faulty shutter that they used in the D600, nearly a year after the D610 came out.
Ha ha. Comparing prices of stock as value.
Who cares if Sony market cap is infinite? They are still losing money with cameras.
Nikon is making a profit. Nikon’s stock has had a very good recover in recent months since the Df was released.
He said that “Nikon’s capitalization is not nearly enough to purchase Sony”. You are talking about profits.
Then why is the market capitalization (a reflection of stock price) less now than 1.1 years ago? You call that a recovery?
Another thing. Nikon’s market capitalization on January 2013 hovered around 11.5-12 billion U.S. Today, it’s market capitalization is around 7.3 billion US dollars. Does that mean the end is near for Nikon? Not really.
When you say they don’t make money on the consoles, only on the games and accessories, I have to wonder. Do you know what the profit margins are on the games and accessories, versus the hardware? If Sony sells two games with the console (with each game having a profit of fifteen dollars, lets say and the console at break even), versus selling one game and the console at a profit of ten dollars, which would you choose? And assume that the low initial cost of the hardware increases sales of the hardware by twenty percent, with the concomitant increase in software sales. Would that be a bad decision?
Your sample size of one camera (xt-1) as an example of leadership innovation is silly. Arguably, it is a great camera, but even the latest Canon Rebel will sell in greater numbers than the vaunted Fuji. And Canon’s research cost is less and margins higher.
Its a fact that sony and also microsoft are not making money yet with ps4 and xbone. See this article for example
http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielnyegriffiths/2013/11/19/report-sony-near-to-profit-on-ps4-hardware/
Fuji is listening to their customers, you cant really say sony is as much as you love sony. They started with a7/r but still not enough not everyone wants a7/r. They dont care about fw upgrades, confusing customers…
I’m not a nikon or fuji fanboy but fuji does lots of things right now
I’s been a couple of months since the new consoles have been released. Have you looked at the product life cycles of the consoles of the previous generation? It’s not linear, the profit line is not at the beginning of the curve. You can look at the a7/a7r as the first generation of an entire product line. While you may love the xt-1 (and many people do), it’s not the machine for everybody. With Sony introducing just TWO ILCs this year, it’s hard to know what the future will bring. There are those, for example, who will prefer the GH4 to the xt-1. Then there are those who think the D4s is the uber machine. Just buy what works for you. The camera is a tool.
Fuji is just a corporation. They “listen to” their customers as much or as little as other corporations.
Pretty sure Fuji customers did not demand slow autofocus, RAW files very difficult to handle by most software, a line of compact cameras that they would turn around and not buy, and very high prices on high end cameras. That’s some listening by Fuji.
+1 here.
The real problem with sony is they’re too body centric. It’s not a bad thing, as slt, nex and FE have all been very innovative. But they need to realise that every body sold is the beginning of a platform to be built on (rather than an end). I know most cameras are only used with the kit lens and popup flash, but Sony is targeting a different market with FE and a-mount. They need to engage with this customer base…
Consoles are generally always sold at a loss for a few years. The games and licensing fees more thank make up for this. This is how consoles reach the masses at a consumer-friendly price point. $1000+ consoles wouldn’t be very successful in obtaining a large install base.
This generation of consoles is not as expensive to produce than the previous one (and thus the graphical jump is not as impressive).
your delusional, fuji innovator n1 ??? what they did innovate split screen, thats the only thing I can remember, and they said fastest AF now all the reviewers say the af is slow, and some have dust specsoil inside the sensor. They are good cameras but don´t say they are uber..
The place looks like a dump. It’s a smart move…
They should move into the old Minolta factory.
Eghads that glass dome atop the building looks to be the worlds greatest natural light photography studio. Oh my I’d love to photograph a bikini clad Karlie Kloss inside of that heaven. We’d hold hands and gaze into the blue, plotting our future conquests.
A number of comments here mention the current drop in camera prices.
This is primarily because the current generation of sensors are near the end of their technolgical cycle, soon to be replaced by a new generation of stacked sensors and higher resolution.
The lower prices we now see are likely to change with the new tech, but not until then.
So many experts here….
Before spitting out nonsense, think about Lego (for example).
If you wanna sell your stuff and jump on another more healthy ship (like other manifacturers are better… LOL) just go ahead and do it: don’t try to justify you actions with the selling of one crappy old building.
This post is in the running for most nonsensical of the day on SAR.
Sony is a blown up company and it has to get rid of all the air inside… Let us hope they find the air!
Keep up the good work Admin! I don’t mind the typo’s!!!
I’m one of those (very) happy A7r users. This camera is awesome for citytrips, landscape and portraits. I like your route Sony!
sony is going down fast.
I’m another very happy A7r user. Sony must succeed in Smartphones. That market is sooo big and competition fierce. Sony can’t live on sensors and cameras however good.
They won’t succeed in the smartphone market, just mark my words. There’s Apple, Google, Samsung and Microsoft… Look at Nokia, HTC, Motorola, Palm, Blackberry… What Sony has to offer that nobody else can’t? Sony can’t pour money into research because they don’t have it nor can’t they afford to buy market share. Even Amazon is more likely to succeed in the smartphone market.
When you look beyond the actual sale price of the property, this is probably a much wiser, i.e profitable, move than it first appears. Imagine the ongoing financial liabilities this old property represents. In high-tech consumer electronics, sentimentalism is just too expensive.
I wish Sony luck. Now, with the proceeds from this sale, do something about that mushy shutter button on the A7.
Agreed. If it’s a choice between keeping ownership of the Toyko building, or selling it and using the money to open up 15 more production facilities across Asia (just as an example)… well… you’d be highly irresponsible if you didn’t at least weigh the options.
A7R problems:
1. Light leak from the uneven lens mount – sony told clients to cover the lens with a cloth
2. Sensor reflections, shooting at night with streetlight is awful – sony ignores the problem and its customers
3. Bullseye color shift – bad image correction done to RAW, just like with NEX7 – sony ignores the problem and its customers
4. Shutter vibration – can´t take sharp pictures with shutter speed from 1/60 to 1/160 – sony says there is no problem, ignores customers
Yes, go on Sony, keep wandering why your business is going down in the era of Internet and public forums.
Source:
1. http://community.sony.com/t5/Alpha-NEX-Cameras/A7-A7R-Light-leaks/td-p/254835/page/6
2. http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3613281
3. http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3588565
4. http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1256012/5
Sony, customers are not impressed with how you handle your customers. You don’t use customer feedback and your sales show that clearly.
Zoran, I think you have mental health issues. Go seek help!
Under an article about Sony having to sell their historical HQ, you dump all your mental torments that nobody cares about.
All cameras have issues, some more serious, some less, some get addressed, some not. This is the cheapest FF camera ever released, if you don’t like it don’t buy.
Uhmmm…
1. When did Sony tell people to cover the lens with a cloth and how many cameras have you seen to have the issue?
2. I’ve seen two examples of this.
3. Pretty much a non-issue in real life.
4. Actually it can take sharp pictures, no problem. A non-issue for most uses.
Linking to a couple of problematic cameras doesn’t help your weak arguments.
I have not gotten a chance to really test my a7 but I have taken sharp pics at 15s so I really don’t think these issues are for every camera maybe some have this problem but people act like there wont be cameras with defects. Nikon cameras were spitting enough oil at one point to make you rich and enough dust/dirt to build a garden.
The problem exists with every a7r camera because it does not have an electronic shutter.
a7 uses electronic first shutter so there is no blur.
I posted links, did you open them?
Each and every mentioned problem does come with real life picture samples.
Sharp pictures? Well maybe if you can accept that you lose 36mp resolution and come down to aprox. 24mp resolution, because of the shutter vibrations (1/60 – 1/125 shutter speeds).
Again, did you even open the links I provided? They all have real life pictures as examples.
These are system problems that Sony should at least acknowledge.
These are not “some cameras have problems, not all.”
Did you read what I wrote? How many cameras have the issues you mentioned? And how much these issues affect shooting for the majority of cases?
So, point 1 and 2, there are very few accounts of such problems, I have seen 2 or 3. Fell free to prove me that all cameras have them. Remember the Nikon shutter? Even that wasn’t a problem on most cameras and it still was a wider issue than what we see here.
Point 3 and 4. Non-issues for most shooters. Example, shutter vibration is only a problem at specific focal lengths and then also at specific shutter speeds. And there are straightforward workarounds for even these limited cases.
All of them have them. Specific focal length like using 55 or 35mm with 1/60 – 1/125 shutter speed.
Do you even have a7r?
I do and it exhibits each and every problem mentioned.
I asked my friends to do the same and they all found same problems.
It’s systemic, Sony dropped the ball with a7/a7r and it’s now ignoring its customers.
Cool story but from several polls held, the light leak seems to affect only a minority and most are proven to be unaffected. The shutter shake is highly dependant on lens used, how the camera is mounted, etc.
The Dpreview ISO 200 shot has a 1/100s shutterspeed at 85mm, yet the resolution chart shows it still outresolves the D800 and does significantly better than any 24 MP camera. The difference with the A7R at 1/200 (ISO 400) and 1/400 (ISO 800) is tiny.
[img]http://i57.tinypic.com/4tsq5u.png[/img]
Ever talk to a rock? Some people take to reason as well as an inert material.
NEVER BUY NEW PRODUCTS. Consumer products are usually released in such a hurry that they dont have the chance to go through extensive tests. Youd better wait for several months and read some review before buying.
The forum link and first hand accounts convinced me of the light leak issue. It is a manufacturing / quality control problem that affects some units. This is valuable to know for users who may purchase this camera so that they may test out their camera while still in the return period. Thanks for sharing.
I use the A7R and all the 4 “issues” are non existent with my camera and in my use. Yes, I am a Sony customer and am one of the very early buyers of this fabulous camera. 🙂
I get Sony’s restructuring but selling off the headquarters is the sort of desperate moves companies do when they’re really circling the drain.
Former headquarters, actually.
I don’t think sony is going down and even if they did I am almost sure some other company would be more than happy to buy there camera division and continue with the e-mount like sony did with minolta. All e-mount needs is more lenses. I dont think they would keep A-mount but they may copy some of there classic lenses. I am not worried, things come and go.
I work for one of the most profitable organizations in Canada (no, unfortunately those large profits don’t trickle down to me personally) 🙁
We also sold the corporate office we own (and now lease the building). We didn’t sell it because we ‘needed’ the money – it was just the right thing to do given real estate values and a strategy to focus on products/service (and not property management/issues). It raised a lot of capital that could be used for other things.
The point is, I don’t think Sony selling their building is a bad thing… nor does it signal that they’re in financial dire straights. In fact, it could be a good thing, allowing them to be more focusing, and giving them a large inflow of cash to spend on camera related facilities/development etc.
Some people don’t actually understand business processes. Your explanation, hopefully, proves educational to many of the readers here.
The end is near. I wonder how many Sony execs are contemplating sepeku?
what is sepeku? early retirement with bonus and golden parachutes?
I think he meant seppuku
And folks on this forum still believe that A-mount is not dead. This is not the first sell-off by the way. They sold their building in New York, this building, and several divisions. They also closed several factors in Japan proper and laid off thousands, all in the last 6 months. A-mount is dead, dead, dead. Heck, no one can deny that they have not announced any new Amount cameras, nothing at all.
Dan
Sir Howard Stringer…. Thanks for royally screwing up Sony. Your legacy will remain in the work culture promoted by an elite class of management buffoons led by you …. All bullshit and no real work !!!! Sony Management do yourself a favour – close the weybridge and basingstoke locations so that non performing assets are shown the door….
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r&d.