Once One and Only Sony Seeks to Regain That Status - Case Study Example

Bader Alharbi Name: Institution: Executive Summary The Sony Corporation is a corporation that is established worldwide. It has a variety of products ranging from electronics to simple entertainment products. It has been amongst the best rated in the global market in terms of technological innovations. One of its most current innovations the SLT & DSLR camera is taken as a case study and looked at in terms of its advantages/ strengths over other products in the global market. With the resources that Sony Corporation has, it can venture into many more businesses apart from the Entertainment industry and household appliances. Sony Corporation is a parent industry to Sony Groups which constitutes Sony Corporation, Sony Finances, Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment and Sony Music Publishing. This makes the structure of Sony Corporation. There are Internal and External factors that may affect Sony’s activities that are discussed in details. Sony is an investment that if well managed can remain top of the technological industry over LG, Samsung and Apple companies for decades due to its outstanding performance. Table of Contents Summary; The Structure of Sony Corporation 4 Current Product or Product Line 4 Current Market/s, Customer Behaviour Issues, Trends and Sales Information 5 Distribution and Supply 5 Competitive Environment 6 The Industry Situation in the Global Market………………………………………………6 Economic, Technological, Political, Socio-cultural and Natural imperatives................... 7 Strengths of the SLT & DSLR camera relative to Potential Opportunities......................8 Market Opportunity worth Pursuing....................................................................................8 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………9 References 10 A Summary of the Structure of Sony Corporation, Overall Capabilities and Resources Sony Corporation is one of the leading manufacturers or producers of electronic products for both the consumer and professional markets. Sony Corporation is a multinational firm majorly known as ‘Sony’. Sony is a Parent Company to the Sony Group. Sony Group has several functional units/ segments namely; Sony Corporation, Sony Computer Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony Financial Holdings, Sony / ATV Music publishing and Sony Music Entertainment.(Sony, 2012) The functional units each have different lines of specialisation. Sony Corporation has professionalism in holdings and electronics while Sony Financial Holdings deal in Banking and Insurance services. In addition, Sony Computer Entertainments, Sony Picture (Fujimura et al, 2011) Entertainments, Sony Music Entertainments and Sony/ ATV Music Publishing deal in games, motion pictures, music and music publishing respectively. Generally, Sony has capabilities in manufacturing audio devices, computers, photographic devices, mobile phones (Sony Ericson), Computer game devices like the Playing Station and other house hold devices. The company has establishments worldwide. Its major markets include Japan, United States, Europe and other areas. Current Product or Product Line Sony is widely known for its prowess when it comes to technological innovations. Some of the technological innovated products from Sony’s pack of products have prudent, unique, outstanding and characteristic features to Sony. This gives a clear difference between Sony’s products and other companies in (Adam et al, 2012) the field of technology. Amongst the rich heritage of technological expertise and outstanding products of Sony over the years, very unique samples include the Trinitron Colour television, the Walkman, the Magnetic recording tape, the Compact Disc (CD) and the Blu-Ray disc. The latest technology that Sony has innovated and is working to improve further is a Crystal LED television. Most of these innovations have been received well in the customer market. Most companies have adopted the crystal LED television technology and are copying it in order to compete effectively with Sony in the market. Current Market/s, Customer Behaviour Issues, Trends and Sales Information Sony has a large market due to its large range of products. The society is tilted towards embracing new technologies and Sony’s products being amongst the best in the market are way much given preference than other (Sony, 2012)products from other companies. As advanced technologies encroach into the markets, Sony’s products such as the SLT & DSLR camera are having lucrative markets. Current markets to this particular product would include the media houses that have to give quality prints and videos, tourists who have a tendency of taking photos of unique sceneries, geologists who study rock structures, scientific researchers that study nature, investigative federations that need photographs as evidences in arguing out their cases, event planners that make comparisons between events and fashion designers that many a time make use of photographs. The society is adopting an upward trend of appreciating nature and products such as this particular camera would really serve this purpose. Distribution and Supply Sony is a multinational and globally established company and makes use of its branches based in different countries to reach the final consumers of its products. Most of Sony’s products are produced from Japan including the SLT & DSLR camera. Other producing countries include; China, Asia the United States and Europe. After production of these digital cameras, they are dispatched for other regions. Most of what is produced in America and Europe are meant for the local market. (Adam et al, 2012) Some of these products from other countries are still sent to Japan for use where about sixty percent are produced. They are well dispatched for other countries. After they reach their destination, local distributors receive and as well give to the retailers that do individual distributions in their respective countries. Competitive Environment The major competitors of Sony Corporation are the well established companies of LG and Samsung. Most of the products such as the SLT & DSLR cameras have close relations to LG’s and Samsung cameras. The close resemblance in their products means that they have to compete closely to hold onto customers. Samsung and LG are gaining traction due to lower pricing of products of similar features to Sony. According to inter-brands ranking updates, a company by name Apple is also showing an (Ted, 2007) appreciation in terms of its brand value in the market. Most products that Sony produces such the LED TV are facing stiff competition. The Apple TV is a result of this competition that Sony needs to really re-strategise on in order to recapture customers and celebrate its old glory in terms of being amongst the best innovative companies. Sony risks losing its dominance in the global market as used to be the case. The Industry Situation in the Global Market The technological (Nathan, 1999) industry is one of the most dynamic currently as most countries that are developing are shifting towards improving the level of technological advancement. Sony’s SLT & DSLR camera is one of the topmost rated in the global market currently. With upcoming young industries such as Apple, Sony needs o be so much aggressive. In the latest rankings, Technology industry has real competition but Sony still is amongst the best. According to global rankings, Sony has been very profitable in the 1990’s all the way to 2000. Even though it is slowly losing its fame, Sony still remains amongst the top in the market. In 2012, Sony has faced some turbulent times and is working on a scheme to revitalise the company to the greens by reducing its workforce between 2012 and 2013. With all this difficulty, Sony is still rated amongst (Sony, 2012) the top one hundred companies of technology and innovation. Economic, Technological, Political, Socio-cultural and Natural imperatives affecting the Sale of Sony’s Product SLT & DSLR Economic factors that affect the marketing and promotion of this product can be looked at in terms of the company and the customers as a whole. The SLT & DSLR camera with the level of technology used in its production could be high. This alone strains the Sony Company such that the end product would (Fatakia, 2012) necessarily be expensive. When production expenses go high, then the end product has to be charged highly. The camera mentioned above may end up being unaffordable to ordinary or middle class markets. This would affect its sale. Under technological advancements,(Jun, 2012) innovation is highly dynamic and with a product such as SLT & DSLR camera, the Sony Company must keep improving on the technology already developed so as to keep leading at the top of the global market. Technology is one thing that competitive staffs need to be working on all through. Other companies are becoming more and more advanced thus keeping Sony always at bay. Political issues are known to interfere with the sale of a product such as the SLT & DSLR camera. Political environment is one thing that all investments need to check on. Hostile environments are not good for business. Politics can be used to outdo competitors in any market. A stable government in any state encourages business persons. Socio-cultural factors majorly have to do with the people’s way of life, how they interact with each other and their literacy or level of education .Advanced (Sony, 2012) technologies such as the SLT & DSLR camera requires high literacy levels in order to operate. The society has to be knowledgeable enough to be able to understand how it is used and the advantages that it has over other cameras in order to sell. Natural essentials may include factors that affect production. Raw materials that are natural have to be availed for production. Strengths of the SLT & DSLR camera relative to Potential Opportunities The SLT (Single- Lens Translucent) camera has a translucent mirror fixed in position to reduce blackout time between shots. It is smaller, lighter and faster than the conventional DSLR cameras. It can shoot continuously up to 10 photos, record moving objects with clarity, quick AF Live view for whichever view is chosen and an inside image stabilization feature. It has a 15 point sensor focus on its screen that enables one keep track of moving objects freely. This makes it very convenient for covering sports activities. The opportune moment that the camera has to be used in various fields of interest is only beneficial if taken into consideration early and proper marketing done in (Pilling, 2007) order to sell the product. If not done early enough, then other competing companies are likely to take over the market. With the level of technological advancement that Sony has embraced, it is very convenient it invests in upcoming markets in developing countries that are just starting to embrace advanced technologies and especially in their media technology set up. Market Opportunity worth Pursuing As at standing now, Sony can take advantage of its movie and music business along with its experience in the gaming space to deliver value-added content to support and integrate its product line. It has talked about doing this with a four-screen strategy, which is a good concept. With the company lately bringing down its entire Sony Ericson venture, it can now independently innovate and venture into the booming Smartphone and tablet market. It can as well venture into the healthcare-imaging sector in a significant way through a possible acquisition of 30% stake in Olympus. Conclusion In summary, Sony is a worldwide established venture that still can regain its old glory if well managed. It has so many positive points to its credit but it seems to have lost its magic charm in the past few years. If the company uses its innate strengths and opportunities judiciously, it should have the potential to revive its past glory. References Adam, E., Mariko, Y., (2012). "Sony to Cut 1,000 Jobs to Reduce Costs at Mobile Unit". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2nd October, 2012 Fatakia, K. (2012). Sony Corporation: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats. Retrieved 2nd October, 2012 http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/03/02/sony corporation-strengths-weaknesses-opportunities/ Fujimura, Naoko. (2011). "Sony's Shopping Spree Is 'Wrong Direction' in Apple Battle: Tech". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2nd October, 2012. Jun, H. (2012). Once one and only Sony Seeks to Regain that Status. Japan times, p.3 Nathan, J., (1999). Sony: The Private Life. Houghton Mifflin Pilling, D., (2007). Camera Sales Raise Sonys Game; Financial Times: 23. ABI/INFORM Global. Web. 2nd October, 2012. Sony. (2012). SLT & DSLR Camera (A-mount), Retrieved 2nd October, 2012 http://www.sony.co.in/productcategory/slt-dslr-camera Ted, S. (2007). "Sony hits bottom of Greenpeace eco rankings". InfoWorld. Retrieved 3rd, October, 2012. Read More