Profile: Sony Corporation (SNE)

Sony Corporation (Sony), incorporated on May 7, 1946, is engaged in the development, design, manufacture and sale of various kinds of electronic equipment, instruments and devices. Sony operates in five segments: Electronics, which develops, designs, manufactures and sells electronic equipment, instruments and devices for consumer and professional markets; Games, in which Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) develops, produces, markets and distributes PlayStation 2 (PS2), PSP (PlayStation Portable) (PSP) and PLAYSTATION 3 (PS3) hardware and related software; Pictures, which encompasses motion picture production and distribution, television production and distribution, and digital content creation and distribution; Financial Services, which includes the activities of Sony Financial Holdings Inc. (SFH), and All Other, which comprises Sony Music Entertainment (SME) and Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc. (SMEJ). On October 1, 2008, it acquired Bertelsmann’s 50% interest in SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT (SONY BMG). As a result of the acquisition, SONY BMG became a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony. In January 2010, the Company's Sony Electronics acquired Convergent Media Systems, a provider of video integration solutions to the enterprise market. In February 2010, the Company established a wholly owned subsidiary, Sony Network Entertainment Inc., in the United States to function as the Company's integrated planner and operator of Internet-based content delivery services to owners of Sony televisions, game machines and other hardware.

Electronics

The Company's audio products include home audio, portable audio, car audio, and car navigation systems. Its video products include video cameras, digital cameras, digital single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras, digital versatile disc (DVD)-video players/recorders and Blu-ray disc players/recorders. Televisions products include liquid crystal display (LCD) televisions. Sony’s information and communications products include personal computer (PCs), broadcast and professional-use audio, video, and monitors and other professional-use equipment. Other electronic products includes sales to outside customers, such as sales of compact disc (CD), DVD, Blu-ray disc manufacturing and physical distribution businesses, and mobile phones produced for wireless customers by Sony EMCS Corporation (Sony EMCS).

Game

Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. (SCEA) and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd. (SCEE) market and distribute PS2, PSP and PS3 hardware, and develop, produce, market and distribute related software in the United States and Europe. SCEI, SCEA and SCEE enter into licenses with third-party software developers.

Pictures

Global operations in the Pictures segment encompass worldwide channel investments; home entertainment acquisition and distribution; operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies, and distribution of filmed entertainment in approximately 130 countries. Sony Pictures Entertainment’s (SPE) motion picture arm, the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, includes SPE’s principal motion picture production organizations, Columbia Pictures, TriStar Pictures, Screen Gems, Sony Pictures Classics and the International Motion Picture Production Group.

Sony Pictures Television (SPT) develops and produces television programming for broadcast, cable and first-run syndication, including scripted series, unscripted reality or light entertainment, daytime serials, games shows, animated series, made for television movies and miniseries and other programming. SPT also produces content for the Internet and mobile devices and operates Crackle, a video Website. Internationally, SPT produces local language programming in markets around the world, some of which are co-produced with local partners, and sells SPE-owned formats in approximately 70 countries. SPT also owns and operates a global channel network with 114 channel feeds, which are available in approximately 130 countries worldwide.

Financial Services

SFH is a holding company for Sony Life Insurance Co., Ltd. (Sony Life), Sony Assurance Inc. (Sony Assurance) and Sony Bank Inc. (Sony Bank). SFH is engaged in integrating various financial services, including insurance, savings and loans, and offering individual customers value-added products and services. Sony conducts insurance operations primarily through Sony Life, a Japanese life insurance company, and Sony Assurance, a Japanese non-life insurance company, both wholly owned by SFH. Aside from SFH, Sony is also engaged in a leasing and credit financing business in Japan through Sony Finance International Inc. (Sony Finance), a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony.

All Other

All Other mainly comprises SME, a global entertainment company, excluding Japan, engaged primarily in the development, production and distribution of recorded music in all commercial formats and genres; SMEJ, a Japanese domestic recorded music business that produces recorded music and music videos through contacts with many artists in all music genres, and a United States-based music publishing business that owns and acquires rights to musical compositions, exploiting and marketing these compositions and receiving royalties or fees for their use. It also includes So-net Entertainment Corporation (So-net), an Internet-related service business subsidiary operating mainly in Japan, and an advertising agency business in Japan.