SONY bankrupt in 2 years? When a simple formula fools the gaming community

Insiderp: "In short, SONY can generate well over 50B dollars in quick cash through its liquefiable assets and some of its long term fixed assets. The company in recent years posted loss solely because of the exchange rate and the same was true for other tech giants like Panasonic, Hitachi, Toshiba and so on "

[Godmars290]

guess we'll find out in two years if Sony has a downturn for the whole time.

[bobsmith]

fee for online sucks but they got gran turismo..

[jgrigs09]

Haaaa did he really just say buy sony stock? I wouldn't touch that with a 10 foot poll. Maybe over Microsoft? But um no.

[Insomnia_84]

I believe he is actually right about that. Sony's stock value went from $17 up to $40 by 2010 and again by 2011. Looking at how they are operating now and how well the PS4 is doing, I'd say they will hit that same mark or even higher in two years. So buying stock now seems like a safe bet to me.

[MultiConsoleGamer]

No. You are completely wrong about those numbers.

In 2010 Sony stock peaked at $40 a share.

In 2011 Sony stock peaked at roughly $35 a share.

In 2012 Sony stock peaked at $21 a share.

Today Sony stock is worth roughly $17.18.

Anyone can verify my claims by visiting this link.

https://www.google.com/fina...

In 2001 at the company traded for an all time high of $150 per share. Credit rating is still junk status at all three major credit agencies.

Junk status means there is a high probability of default on debts, liability, loans, etc.

Bankruptcy is not the end of the world. Just ask Apple.

[lolCHILLbro]

Your a fool to think PS4 will affect Sony's overall stock in a significant way, will it make money? sure, will it make up for every other business Sony is involved in? not a chance

[nukeitall]

Playstation business to Sony, just like Xbox business to MS, is a tiny sliver of the overall.

Sony problem runs far deeper than the surface, as it is company culture combined with inability to create reasonably priced products.

Anyhow, I wouldn't touch Sony stock with a 10 feet pole either.

MS stock is far better, but it ain't going to make you rich. It will have it's movement and although the stock is positive right now, it ain't got that much room to grow left. If it doubles, it will be as big as Apple!

[nypifisel]

Playstation brand is one of Sony biggest assets actually. Can they turn that profitable it's a good thing for the whole company. Sony really just need to dump the TV business if they can't compete with the cheaper Korean brands etc.

[CarlosX360]

I agree with @nypifisel's comment/assessment. Sony will be just fine.

[mrpsychoticstalker]

Delirious, RIP sony.

Dont worry, some major,company will eventually buy the playstation Brand.... perhaps Samsung

[edgeofsins]

I totally would. PS4 popularity is going to make stock go up in price no doubt. I would have made so much money. If only I could have bought Nintendo stock before DS and Wii launches.

[Ol_G]

Fanboy drivel blaming Sony's yearly losses on the yen and government delusional is an understatement

[Mr_Writer85]

But you are also a fanboy so you can't talk.

With your business degree and vast experience please explain how he is wrong.

Facts only please and back up those facts with proof.

I look forward to being educated.

[Ol_G]

following people around damn you must have no life

[Mr_Writer85]

So I take it you can't then.

Thought so.

And yes I am following you around because I have no life.

Or maybe since I own a PS3, Vita and a PS4 I have some interest in the Playstation brand which is owned by Sony, so I read articles related to them and call out people like yourself who I pitty for having such a sad life that seeing a positive article about a brand makes you rage and write silly things like you did above.

But you keep telling yourself I'm following you, if that makes you feel better :)

I will even give you an agree because I feel sorry for you.

[Ol_G]

i feel sorry for you editing your posts to sound smart but i already ignored you here and on eurogamer so please dont comment on my stuff i won't respond to you i have better things to do i recommend you to spend some time with your kids instead of stalking me

[Mr_Writer85]

A grown man blocking people because they call him out and trying to pretend they are being stalked?

I actually don't know who you are, I will comment where I want escpcially when I drivel like this.

And you know its utter drivel hence why instead of proving me wrong you started making stuff up about me stalking you and not having a life.

[SonyKong64]

perfectly finished.

I followed suit and also enjoyed giving this waste of space an agree, based solely on my sympathy for the guy = / people of his like must surely have it tough..

[Concertoine]

Sony bet big with the PS4 and it will pay off, at least the playstation division will (hopefully) be back to it's former lucrative self.
The question is, i wonder if the cycle will repeat? After the ps4 will probably come out first over the other 2 consoles, i wonder if they will go back to being really cocky like they were in the ps3 days and to a lesser extent the ps2 days, like microsoft was with the xbone, like nintendo was with the n64.
It'll be interesting to see.

[DiRtY]

"According to the same site ,Microsoft 
which is now relying heavily on it core business model of Desktop based Windows platform"

How long will it take for those people to realise that this is just wrong?

MS division that performs best is the business division (Office). Then there is tools and services at No. 2 (MS SQL, Cloud Services / Azure). Windows is at no. 3!

Get your facts right.

[jgrigs09]

Shhh don't bring that up.

[Sammy777]

Cloud services are a minute amount of MS biz model. MS 1 sole mega branch is their Windows OS as the article pointed out

[DiRtY]

Sure, Azure is not as big a Windows on its own, but the Server & Tools division generated more revenue than the Windows division in FY 2013!

Here you go:

Business Division: 24.7 billion USD
Server & Tools: 20.3 billion USD
Windows Division: 19.2 billion USD
Entertainment & Devices: 10.2 billion USD
Online Services: 3.2 billion USD

I am not making this up, you can read it here:

http://www.microsoft.com/in...

Who am I kidding. You won't read it. You won't accept facts and just keep on with your agenda.

[tehpees3]

I think its interesting that people are looking at the finances of someone besides Nintendo for a change. If you want my honest opinion Sony will be fine because their business strongly relies on video games now. I don't know about buying their stock since it could take while to get out of the financial pit. They are still selling PS4 at losses.

Truthfully MS is the one that is really uncertain for the video game market since they have been here well over 10 years and still haven't broke even with the investment they made in the brand. That is honestly an epic fail on their part. Pachter and Rubin should learn to analyze the situation more closely. If there is anyone that video games don't make sense for it is Microsoft. It isn't about who has the greatest market share. It is about how much you are making back. I don't care how rich Microsoft is, they won't stay in video games much longer if they aren't making the money back and not enough of their profits comes from the Xbox brand.

The funny thing is whenever you point out the finances of the others to these two they ignore you with no response. I'm sure Sony will turn it around as the PS4 goes up their company will eventually get back on track. Its the handheld future of Sony that is only in trouble with them regarding games. If they can't get the Vita out of the pit it is in I regret to say Sony will likely pull out of that market.

[MultiConsoleGamer]

Extremely fuzzy math.

[Dehnus]

Seriously who cares.
Sony is not going bankrupt for a long time, and neither is MS. All of the articles wishing for it are Console Warriors who are in for "Wishful thinking".

Same goes for Nintendo, who is literally sitting on a big pile of cash.

[mhunterjr]

I don't inderstand why folks tried to interpret this as video game news. The formula was applied to Sony Corp, which has a junk credit rating. Their SCE business looks to be on the up-and-up, but I don't think its big enough to carry the entire company. One thing's for sure though, if they did have to take drastic measures, their gaming arm isn't what would go away. No one's dropping out of consoles.

I do think at some point they'll start feeling pressure extract value out of the services they offer their customers. Giving things away for free is wonderful PR, but it won't pull you out of the red.

[DVAcme]

First of all, bankruptcy is a state in which a company cannot generate enough profit to pay off its operating debts which results in the need of legal protection. It is not a company going under. Marvel Comics filed for bankruptcy in 1996, and you wouldn't know it from the entertainment juggernaut it currently is. A company can still function during bankruptcy, and in fact filing for bankruptcy can actually save a company, since it incites prudent spending and trimming of unnecessary assets.

As for why Sony would go bankrupt, it's because they're kinda stretched, selling products in areas that have too much competition(TVs, laptops, etc). Selling off those troublesome divisions would be more than enough to save Sony from bankruptcy, and for years Sony Computer Entertainment has been the company's healthiest division.

Bottom line is that Playstation's not going anywhere. People screaming gloom and doom have no perspective nor knowledge of how it all works.

[DoctorJones]

But didn't Marvel get bought by Disney?

[jukins]

Yes because as DVacme said Marvel is an entertainment juggernaut these days from books comic movies games etc. Disney is basically buying the competition. Easier for them to buy established super hero sci companies than to try to go head to head with them

[DVAcme]

Disney got bought by Marvel after they recovered from the bankruptcy. By the time they bought them, they had already released a load of their superhero movies and their comics division had made a comeback.

[DeadlyFire]

While true in some regards. Often when a company files bankruptcy and they are still a public company stocks drop to rock bottom and someone else buys the company and liquidates it the majority of the time.

Sony's main problem is the TV market. They never aim for cheap products to sell to consumers in this market and lots of people avoid them due to this.

[Kavorklestein]

Yeah, it is true that bankruptcy is not the ddom and gloom of a caompany, I'm glad SOME PEOPLE understand, that this is nothing to worry about in the long run, and I do feel like they they should drop some of their other markets also. The only thing Sony I would want to own is their video games, and systems (excluding hand helds)... I've always hated their over-priced TVs, laptops, phones, and crappy music/ stereo stuff. Their tv's USED to be the cream of the crop, and not rape your wallet either, but now they are barely competition for other brands, who sell their tv's at ridiculous prices, but still far less ridiculous prices than Sony.

[franko]

...And then the autor of this article woke up...

[Javinator]

Love how the internet geeks quickly go on the Sony defense.
Amateur websites runned by Sony fanboys like that must go down.

[Javinator]

Sony's fall is bound to happen soon, Samsung is beating them in their key segment: electronics

[mushroomwig]

I didn't know N4G had so many economists.

[Silly gameAr]

I know right?

[pete007]

STOP with your sony lawyer bull***t, i wouldnt put a dime on sony for start,
second, every multinational corporation has subsidiary companies worldwide, pay local taxes individually and the money doesnt travel the world has you try to make believe. follow the coca-cola example and youll have a nice example.
besides you think ps4 will be the saviour of a fallen brand. playstation brand generates 5% of the total incomings. its the mobile and electronics consumer market that they lost, just like their bank and assurance investments, leaving the cinema and media solutions the only profitable.
btw, why dont we see any technology on the new console (besides customization)built from scratch by sony itself?
unlike MSFT, they are a hardware company with years and years of knowledge and innovation, arent they?
i predict an implosion of sony if we see another global crysis and in 10 years time business models will be far different from actual ones. stay tunned for updated news

[DCfan]

Oh man. LOL!!

[Shinox]

I don't know why this user spending much time of his life hating on Sony
FOR NO REASON !
If you dislike the Sony brand as a whole that's ok , But Why would anyone wish for this to happen , its still boggles my mind , this is really a bad thing for the gaming industry and the industry is a whole so why in the world would you wish for that to happen , Why you putting all your hopes on M$ when they suppose to fxxk you up with their policies , why can't you be thankful that others force your beloved company to do the exact same thing the other company did , Why fanboys like you act like its the best thing for their system of choice when in reality it kills your company brand , why people can't think that way , why people living in a conspiracy life , What is wrong with this world these days , too much stupidity !

[pete007]

never!! youre wrong, i dont wish thst.
its just the evolution we see from the state of the art 80s company that had everything to lead the industry and with all the billions earned start entering the financial market, own bank, own assurances, and then on the big finantial crash, when we finally saw that Money worths nothing, there sony realised how much they lost, capitalizing their projects with their own banques, assuring their own riscs, when all fell appart it was SONY itself that took the big hit. we can do nothing to change that, right now the best divisions are working hard to compensate years of unfortunate choices just like Microsoft who woke up to WWW// too late loosing to Google, so did sony to apple, Samsung,etc,etc.
restructuring and choosing rigt what the consumer want is the key
cheers!! no hate, i had all playstations and i ll even buy ps4. i wouldnt consider myself a gamer if i wouldnt....

[Azzanation]

Microsoft has a 1% chance of going bankrupt, that's kinda of funny. Well at least I know my games are future safe.

[ocelot07]

Very true at least I know all my Games for Windows live games will be around for a long time. O wait

[ftrain]

Such destruction.

[wannabe gamer]

SO many people on this site act like gaming is the only sector companies like Sony, MS and even nVidia are in. when in truth Sony has their hand in more products than MS ever has. SOny makes everything from gaming consoles to TVs radios mp3 players and soo sooo so much more. MS makes a ton of software and a gaming console and some tablets and some pc accessories and thats about it, sure they do a little more but its nothing significant. i mention nVidia for example since they do GPU for gaming and professional effects, but they also make chipsets for tons of devices and a lot of luxury cars and super computers. PC gaming is not nVidias sole thing going. they prob make more from the luxury cars deal than ppl think.

[Edsword]

Sony is not going anywhere. Ford was in a worse position than Sony and it was able to come back even stronger. It did so by selling off brands that were not making money and reorganizing its structure. Sony will do the same if push comes to shove. Corporations as big as Sony do not fail easily. Sony makes great products, but lately they have had a lot of competition from Korea in the electronics market. LG and Samsung have really put a dent in Sony because they seemingly high quality electronics and seem to be able to do it cheaper than Sony. I have found the reality is that Sony actually makes a better product though. My experience with Samsung and LG products has been less than stellar. My next TV will likely be a Panasonic or Sony because they just seem to last longer in my opinion. I do not have any factual evidence of this, but I have had both Samsung and LG products fail on me too many times for me to continue to buy those brands.

I wish people would get over their fanboyisms though. This is really getting old. This MS or Sony sucks stuff really is dumb and only pigeon holes you into a position where you cannot accept that both systems will have great games. I bought the PS4 because I enjoyed Sony exclusives last gen more than MS exclusives. Likely, when the price has gone down considerably I will pick up an XB1. Well, unless the new Halo comes to PC, but that's not likely to happen.

[wannabe gamer]

yea when you have 150Billion in assets i think you can stand to sell off a few things and be just fine

[assdan]

With a name like insiderp, you know it's accurate.

[d4sholil1]

I remember a time where "we" only cared about the games and the systems. Anyway, I am pretty sure Sony and Microsoft have pretty good liquidity, solvency, and profitability on paper.

[Kavorklestein]

To echo all the Michael Jackson chatter up above and tie in with your comment: "Do you remember the Time?" (sung in a high pitched, Pre-plastic surgery voice)

Sorry, I had to.

[ALLWRONG]

"SONY can generate well over 50B dollars in quick cash through its liquefiable assets"

No it can't because you would have to guarantee some company would want to buy it first. Who would want to buy a failing movie studio?

[DCfan]

Failing movie studio??
What BS is this??

[ftrain]

I always wondered if you made that username to show everyone that you were always wrong. I guess it's true.

[ALLWRONG]

The same movie studio that just made 200 million in cuts because it was wasting money. That movie studio.

[martinlovegoodie]

OK i'LL THE MACJEL JAKSION STUFF ASIDE SONY OWNS RECORD LABELS WARNER BROTHERS, PARAMOUNT. SONY PICTURE STUDIOS, SONY ENT, AND MORE/ BLUE RAY. THEY HAVE MORE SCORSESE OF INCOME THE MICROSOFT HAS.

[Kavorklestein]

TDIL: Martin Scorsese is a form of Currency!
Sorry, I had to.

[joeorc]

Like i stated playstation is not going anywhere, did you know that in the official playstation magazine they stated @ the 10 year anv of the founding of playstation how much sony computer entertainment MADE IN A 10 YEAR TIME, THIS WAS WITHOUT Even counting the PS3, THEY MADE:

50 billion in revenue!

IN 10 YEARS TIME!

That may not seem that much, but in a 10 year point in time with a section of Sony not even looked as a major section of the company generating that much money, is not a small section by a long shot, and i doubt very much that Sony would let anyone near that cash cow before they sold off the other toxic parts of the company.

Remember Nintendo is quite a bit smaller in man power employed than Sony a much lower overhead. Microsoft also hase over 160,000+ employed also, do people really think both Nintendo or Microsoft would want to take on a workforce that = or exceeds their own size employed manpower?

all that over head, never mind the logistic's in the sheer number of employed workforce.

Now imagine Sony going the way of Nintendo as "only a game and entertainment company" with the investments in to mobile chipsets, software and playstation.

with playstation private held no stock offered public, it would not being going away any time soon, no matter how much people think it will with the rest of Sony's company up for the chopping block.

Sony computer entertainment Made 50 billion in revenue without Playstation Home's profits, or the the PS3 and now add in the Playstation Mobile, and to top it off , Oh yea the PS4, than the PSVita TV, and the PSVita which by the way is selling at profit on the hardware now.

Sony may be smaller and in less areas of the market but they will be in a hell of a lot better position, Kaz is no joke..he has made drastic cuts sell off HQ and than buy another HQ in silicon

http://www.playstationlifes...

would they really intend to sell off playstation by doing that?
I do not think So...

and investor hedge fund that own over 6% of of Sony's stock was told with a resounding No!

"The entertainment businesses are important contributors to Sony's growth and are not for sale," wrote Hirai in Sony's statement."

A hedge fund that is not japanese would have to convince the majority of the japanese ran board over @ Sony to spin off or sell off a large chunk of one of the only things that is in a large number of demand so the rest of Sony just gets sold and dies on the vine? At least Sony would rather control Playstation and sell off toxic parts, if they are going to down size they want to make the call. Not a vulture Hedge fund that is just thinking short term gains, not about the people employed there.

[joeorc]

its very freaking Simple, Sony is not going to file in two years for the very simple fact some are not looking very close to what is going on in japan right now.

1st Example:

check this out
about Sony going bankrupt....

they may want to revise the Outlook!

Japan Opts to Raise Sales Tax and Stimulus
Prime Minister Abe Seeks to Reduce Country's Mounting Debt, Bolster Economic Growth to Reverse Stubborn Deflation

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is set to unveil a $50 billion stimulus Tuesday ahead of an April 2014 increase in the country's sales tax. Masayuki Kichikawa, chief Japan economist for Bank of America Merrill Lynch, tells Ramy Inocencio why people are grumbling.

http://online.wsj.com/news/...

51 billion! reasons to, look that Sony's not going to file because Sony employs over 160,000+ japanese worker's!

2nd reason:
which is again another really good reason

no Hostile Take Over of any large japanese Company or , by any foreign hedge fund investor groups has had any success to do so in the past 40 years, let alone a company the size of Sony's, that employ's such a very large number of japanese people.

to back up my statement, look at this

Break up Sony? It's harder than it looks

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com...

""The entertainment businesses are important contributors to Sony's growth and are not for sale," wrote Hirai in Sony's statement."
again:
Struggles with foreign shareholders have nearly always turned to favor Japanese companies, after all. Just six years ago when Steel Partners launched a tender offer for the 90% of a famous Japanese sauce maker, Bull-Dog, the food firm sought a white knight intervention and then a poison pill to save itself from an aggressive takeover bid from the Americans. Finally, Japanese courts voted in favor of the pill.
very doubtful of a buyout, Sony i would bet would cut off every part it could but smartphones and software and keep playstation as Kaz stated "the three pillar's of Sony" than sell off playstation, if anything the work force and over head of Sony as a whole would Suffer the drastic cuts needed in order to keep a 50 billion in revenue Alive and kicking. Trim off sections such as TV's are ripe for the Cut. 8 years of straight loss in the billions tend to do that, Hell even Kaz no more see's the TV part of Sony as a pillar of Sony anymore.

[beatled]

the sad thing is both MS and Sony have BILLIONS of dollars yet they made "next gen" consoles that cannot even run BF4 in 1080p at medium settings

and we will be stuck with these things for 8 more years

sure, there will be some great exclusives...but they won't be pretty

at least last gen ps3 and xbox360 were close to a mid-high spec modern pc

now, ps4 and xbox1 are not even close to a mid-high spec pc from 2011

[DCfan]

Agreed, i'd rather play grafix than a good game.

[kane_1371]

Yeah suuuure, since a system built on a jaguar and 7860 models plus 8 GB of gddr 5 ram is sooooo low end.
Are you even for real?
ps4 is a solid mid and also a console which means it is capable to harness so much power that no PC ever can since the build system for the two products is like night and day.
Then we have the fact that to build that mid gaming PC you would have to shell out something around €700 and there we go.
The whole point of your argument is shattered.
Now, for me that am gaming on PC all that matters is the fact that I can not ever play RDR on my PC and suddenly PC gaming loses its charm.
Sure I get fucking mods whoopdidoo but wait, these mods eventually (if not from the get go) will break your games.
Have you ever had to reset your gameplay on fallout new Vegas on hardcore cuase your game just doesn't like to load any more and breaks your game?
oh but hey, I get mods and.... Yeah... That is it!
all the appeal PC gaming has!
you could sit and talk about sells and lower prices and i will just point out the fact that I do not get more than half of those games on consoles and those that I get after a year or two are god awful ports of amazing games.
While I wait for the next GTA I will play papers please, how about that?
Do you really buy your own words?
since transition to PC gaming my life has been a library of 200 games that I never even play since the majority of them are worse than ET and hours upon hours of Dota 2 trying to explain the game to idiots that do not even understand team play.
But boy I sure do love them graphics on Crysis 3 though, only if that would make it a good game that way.
Hey what is that online server protected by vac filled with speed hackers?
come on dude, bashing consoles will not get you anywhere.

[KingDadXVI]

LOL. Investment advice from a gaming blog. Too funny. This author needs to take his Fan Boy head out of his ass or the PS4's and take a whiff of reality. Moody, Fitch and S&P have all rated Sony stock as Junk Status. I.E. do not buy. Those investment articles that he is bitching about are not aimed at gamers they are for investors. They could not give a shit about gamers opinions. How deluded can you get?

Sony is and has been for over 7 years in a boatload of financial shit. They have no way of raising capital other than selling off properties. Their credit rating is in the toilet and having junk bond status means they can't raise shit on the markets either. They didn't sell their global headquarters in Japan and North American headquarters because they are rolling in the dough. Every cent that Sony is currently worth is owed to investors and they are currently living on the sufferance of those investors.

As most of the people on here don't seem to understand that this is about more than the PS4 I will lay it out for you. Sony stock is dirt cheap and their only real value is in their assets (IP, patents, and physical property). Due to the low valuation on their stock this means that a large investor or group of investors may at some point decide to buy enough stock that they can decide to break up the company and sell off those assets as they are actually worth more than the stocks themselves. There are many organizations out there that specialize in just that thing. They wait for a company’s stock value to be far lower actual asset value and then swoop in buy controlling shares and sell of the assets for a tidy profit. Leaving customers, employees, and small investors holding the bag.

The reason bankruptcy is mentioned is that if they declare bankruptcy before the situation I mentioned above happens then Sony Corp itself can potentially have some control over the sale of assets to raise capital and try to become profitable again via restructuring.

Bottom line is that even with the PS4 selling at a breakneck pace it is not making them any money right now. They are still losing money on every console sale. They will make money on PS+ and software sales but it is unlikely that it will offset their huge losses. Remember N4Gites that PlayStation is a small part of Sony Corp.

If this happens then the best we can hope for is that the PlayStation assets are broken off and bought out by someone who wants to continue it as a separate company.

[joeorc]

again:

SCE is an LLC, THEY CANNOT BUY INTO PLAYSTATION STOCK! ITS NOT PUBLIC! thus what are they going to break up? there is 51 billion stimulus that would prevent a Hostile take over!

you again called out people on here about getting advice
well your Advice is pretty much worth zero zilch right now because in the freaking past 40 years no japanese company the size of Sony have had a Hostile take over happen, that is in 40 d@mn year's!

"Due to the low valuation on their stock this means that a large investor or group of investors may at some point decide to buy enough stock that they can decide to break up the company and sell off those assets as they are actually worth more than the stocks themselves. There are many organizations out there that specialize in just that thing. They wait for a company’s stock value to be far lower actual asset value and then swoop in buy controlling shares and sell of the assets for a tidy profit. Leaving customers, employees, and small investors holding the bag. "

you can value the stock of not a buy, but since the board of director's and the vast number of investors for Sony are mainly Japanese, it would not be Microsoft, google or hell even Nintendo or Apple for that matter would want to take on the over head in the 1st place, there is over 160,000 people employed in Sony..that's almost as many people that microsoft emplolys, its a hell of alot more than Nintendo employs.

Sony's board would sell of toxic assets, before the situation you keep harping on would have about a snow ball's chance in hell to happen, before Sony gets that stimulus kick's in they told a investor who holds 6% value stock in Sony a resounding No! does that tell you and other's freaking anything?

@ srmiller82

another one,? oh' god, Sony has over 160,000 people employed the japanese govt. is not going to put the fate of those worker's in the hands of ,anybody but japanese!

people need to really read this:

Japan opens door to foreign hedge funds
26 Sep 2013

There are only a handful of home-grown hedge funds in Japan but changes to the rules for asset managers last year have made it easier to launch an investment management business.

American activist investors have, however, met with frustration in the efforts to add value at other companies. T. Boone Pickens, who acquired a minority stake in the auto parts company Koito Manufacturing in 1989, pressed its management for better dividends and a seat on its board. But the little manufacturer dug in its heels. Shareholders heckled him with anti-American taunts at its annual shareholders meeting; the press branded him an opportunistic vulture. Koito’s president refused even to meet the Texan magnate.

“O.K., Koito; I give up,” Mr. Pickens declared in an editorial two contentious years later, before selling his entire stake. “The heck with Japanese business.”

However, significant barriers to entry remain in the country.

Again:

"The entertainment businesses are important contributors to Sony's growth and are not for sale," wrote Hirai in Sony's statement."

does that sound like Sony would sell off playstation to you?

many keep saying Sony will have no other choice, but the choice of cutting every thing like a major investment into TV production, which is by far has been stated that TV's are no longer a pillar @ Sony by Kaz!

Again read this:

He had 26% of that company Even @ 26% he was as you can see, not Happy with the outcome, With Sony i Expect the same outcome. Again SCE IS AN LLC, its not public stock!

[srmiller82]

I'm gonna clear a few things up cause it looks like we have a bunch of kids who know how to google net tangible assets. First thing is your all wrong both sides sony/Microsoft. Second anybody talking about one of the biggest companies in the world and including sony in the same sentence as Microsoft is a fool. You go by market cap not tangible assets. Just because a company has a lot of assets doesn't mean they can make money and means jack to investors. Selling stuff off is a bad sign.Microsoft is sitting on 60-80 billion dollars in cash sony is not. Microsoft doesn't have to sell a thing to get money they are sitting on more money than 99% of companies are worth as a whole. The ONLY other company that has more cash is apple. Microsoft is easily top 5 biggest company in the world. To make you understand this, Microsoft is a software company first and and a lot of their manufacturing plants they do not own so no they have very few assets and that is actually a smart thing they have less to finance. Apple is the same way. Sony is MUCH smaller than both of these companies stop kidding yourself. Just because you see their name on everything has nothing to do with what they make and how much they are worth. Also whoever said earlier they went into the red in 2011, they have been in the year something like 5 years and losing BILLIONS every year since then. Microsoft has only lost money once EVER since they were founded in one quarter and that was a write off. So technically Microsoft has NEVER EVER lost money in a quarter. Apple can't even say that as they were bailed out by Microsoft years ago. Microsoft also does not rely heavily on PCS like a lot of people assume. They could never make a windows version again and still make 2 billion a year off of android their patent portfolio is I think top 3 in the world in size. Yes only 2 other companies have more patents and no apple is not in the list and no sony is not even in the top 10. So no uttering sony and Microsoft acting like they are similar in size is ridicules stop talking about stuff you have no idea about. Now to get to my point why Microsoft fan boys are also wrong or whoever wrote this article I'm commenting on is a complete idiot and needs a course in economics and finance. Sony that you buy stock into in the use is there electronics division which includes PlayStation, sony pictures also fairly small is not included in this. So whoever is saying the picture unit will bail them out is also an idiot because they don't make hardly any money with sony pictures and they are losing 5 billion a year in electronics. Sony is an insurance company in Japan, they sell life insurance and the sorts, this company makes something like 9 billion a year, so yes they are nowhere near bankrupt unless electronics start losing 10 billion a year which they won't they are no in NO DANGER of going bankrupt, but if they continue to lose 5 billion a year, they will either sell their electronics division or stop making them and shift to something else because losing 5 billion a year is plain dumb and posses off shareholders that own shares in the electronics company. That being said 9 billion a year compared to Microsoft 15-20 billion in PROFIT per year is at the very most half the size, and Microsoft is one of the top grossing companies in the world with probably the best profit margins of any company of its size even beating apple. Microsoft grosses somewhere around 80 billion and profits 15-20 of that after all their expenses its almost unheard of. So stop acting like one of the biggest companies in the world (not sony) is in trouble because pcs aren't selling their patents alone are probably worth 20 billion don't be ridiculous because you don't understand what you read on google. Nobody in their right mind would invest in sony electronics.

[KingDadXVI]

@srmiller82 Finally someone who has 3 clues on this site. There is absolutely no question that you cannot compare Sony and MS. I believe that once the acquisition of Nokia is approved by the EU MS will have $60 Billion in free cash. While Sony continues to lose money or just keep its head above water in every division but its insurance group. Numbers don't lie nor does the fact that it is a bad scene when you have to start selling off your assets to pay the bills.

@joeorc LOL, I never said that you could by stock in PlayStation but it is owned by Sony and therefore it can be liquidated like any other asset.

""The entertainment businesses are important contributors to Sony's growth and are not for sale," wrote Hirai in Sony's statement."

does that sound like Sony would sell off playstation to you?"

Most people would say that they would not sell their car either but when faced with losing their house or selling their car they will change their tune and sell the car.

If the only investors that you attract are the ones that value your assets and not your earning potential then you are in deep shit. And I hate to say it but those are the only investors swimming in the pool with Sony right now.

In no way am I saying that Sony intends to sell off the SCE but what I am saying is that if it is faced with extinction as a company it may have no choice in the matter. Sony may very well be forced to remove itself from the hardware business completely and stick with making money off of its intellectual properties.

[TBONEJF]

What the hell is wrong with these analyst they think sony will go bankrupt in 2 years please. stop saying B.S. just because their not making any money

[Gamerita]

negative propaganda against the better ones.

same old story. :)

[Demoa]

i want them all to go bankrupt so newer better company can take over

[RealtorMDandDC]

Financial Times, Motley Fool, IBT, Yahoo finance. Or any reputable financial publication. I've only read this on a few video game websites. Back to playing my PS4

[clouds5]

I really dont care wether sony lives or dies. They are just making hardware, if they go bankrupt the big studios like naughty dog get sold and the games will be on other systems. Nothing lost. The fact that an amazing studio like Rare only releases casual games for microsoft is infinately more sad than sony potentially going down. And if i havent made myself clear yet: all that matters are the games. Just my opinion.

same goes for microsoft xb1. Its highly unlikely but i would love when they would focus more on windows instead of xb :) these next gen consoles are nothing but gaming pcs anyway... But that is just my opinion and it wont happen anyway!

[Flames76]

playstation time is coming to an end R.I.P

[monochromer]

It's so rewarding to see you all became analysts, mathematicians, and industry insiders overnight. You must teach me how.

[SynestheticRoar]

2funny. Enjoy the ride while it last. Stop crying.