Sony To Combine Game, Other Distribution Infrastructure

Author: by Staff

Media giant Sony has confirmed that its main company and the PlayStation 3-creating Sony Computer Entertainment subsidiary will combine hardware distribution operations to save money, according to media reports. A Bloomberg News report confirms an earlier Nikkei newspaper report that the two divisions will combine forces to put physical distribution of Sony products under one unified roof. Previously, Sony's televisions and other hardware were distributed by a separate set of employees in the parent company, and Sony spokesperson Mami Imada noted that the two divisions would "combine distribution routes and jointly bid for contracts". Cost savings are the main goal, since the cost of distributing products for the group will probably rise 50 percent next fiscal year, after falling 25 percent to 150 billion yen ($1.6 billion) in the 12 months to March 31, according to Bloomberg and Imada. Sony boss Howard Stringer has recently vowed that the segment of its business that houses the PlayStation 3 should achieve profitability by March 2011. But the company has cut over 19,500 jobs in the last year, and, projecting a ¥95 billion ($1 billion) loss for the current fiscal year ending in March 2010, still has "more work to do" - of which this change is apparently part.