Firstly, we will be able to follow closely the group's developments in certain segments in which it is likely to develop further, such as the mobile sector where the group could position itself against its competitors. In the same way, we will also follow the games console segment, which remains an area in which the Sony group can develop further.
Of course, we will also have to keep an eye on the competition in this sector, which is both very strong and very aggressive. We will therefore follow Sony's main competitors, particularly in the fields of electronics and mobile phones.
We will also keep an eye on certain external factors that can influence Sony's business, such as taxes and taxation, but also changes in legislation in certain geographical areas in which the group markets its products.
Sony's pricing strategy will also be important, as the group is increasingly competing with products that are of lower quality but sold for much less.
Finally, Sony's innovation and investment in research and development will of course need to be closely monitored to ensure that it remains at the cutting edge of technology.
Sony Corporation is a multinational company established in Japan and headquartered in Tokyo. Its securities are listed on the NYSE and SNE markets.
The activity of the company Sony focuses on technology with multiple sectors such as electronics, IT, audio-visual, video games, telephony or music. Among the various business sectors concerned, the main one remains electronics, however, since Sony accounts for almost 14% of the market share.
This international entity includes around a hundred different companies, including its French entity Sony France SA. In total, it expands its activity in more than 183 countries
Carrying out multiple activities in various sectors, the Sony group faces competition from many specialized and non-specialist companies. To better analyze the course of its action and its development possibilities, it is therefore necessary to take into account the results of these competing companies. Here are the main competitors of Sony by industry.
Its most dangerous competitors are Tencent, Microsoft and Activision Blizzard.
its main competitors are Samsung and LG.
During the last decades, the Sony group has strategically created associations with certain competing or complementary companies in order to maintain its place among the market leaders.
In 2004, it thus established a partnership with Samsung for the joint production of LCD panel in Korea. This joint venture will be called S-LCD.
In 2011, the group also partnered with the companies Itachi, Toshiba and INCJ for the pooling of LCD panel production resources.
Previously, Sony had also set up a partnership with Google in order to install the Android application on the various mobile phones produced by the group and its subsidiary Sony-Ericsson. Ericsson finally bought out Sony's stake in the joint venture in 2011, ending their partnership.
First of all, Sony's brand identity is of course one of its main strengths. Indeed, this corporate brand is old enough to have taken root in the minds of generations of customers. Although the brand has recently experienced a decline in overall popularity, it remains one of the best known in this industry. Of course, this popularity ensures Sony an interesting and almost guaranteed success when its new products are released. Of course, this also allows it to benefit from a strong ability to penetrate certain markets or to set up interesting partnerships.
Another advantage of this company also concerns the projected growth in the consumer electronics market. Indeed, for a few years, this sector of activity knows a very interesting growth which allows Sony to sell more products. But that's not all. Indeed, analysts specializing in this market are also planning to continue this growth for the months and years to come. However, Sony is particularly well placed to take advantage of this increase in needs and demand. Indeed, being one of the largest companies in the world in this sector of consumer electronics, Sony could offer even more products that meet the needs of the market and therefore generate significant profits. This group also has sufficient production and innovation capacity to respond effectively to the increase in this demand. It should also be noted that the group recently completely revised its organization and hired experienced collaborators, particularly in the digital field, who can optimize the overall potential of the company and growth forecasts.
Finally, the last advantage of the Sony group concerns its strong ability to position itself in emerging markets. Indeed, the company is particularly well established in China and India as regards the Asian market but also in Brazil and Russia which are two other booming markets at present. All of these regions represent no less than 40% of the world's population, a very large customer and prospect base. In India, Sony is already enjoying great success thanks to its past investments in the cinema and music sector. Today, the group's objective is to double its revenues from these emerging markets.
First, investors in the stock market are disappointed by the recent results of this company, whose revenues have been declining for several years now. This concerns more particularly certain specific divisions of this group such as the electronics, games, images and financial services sector. The current crisis mainly affects the market in the United States and Japan with sharply declining revenues. The buying strategies on this stock thus tend to fall for fear that the situation will continue.
Another negative point for this company with an international focus concerns the lack of proximity to the production units in the marketing areas. Indeed, more than 60% of the annual production is still made in Japan and must then be exported to other countries. This of course poses a problem with regard to transport costs which reduce the margins and do not make it possible to implement a reduction in selling prices in a highly competitive sector.
This brings us of course to the last fault of this company which concerns precisely the very important competition of this sector of activity. Indeed, the electronics sector, which has experienced very strong growth in recent years is attracting more and more large companies. Also, Sony must be more and more competitive and innovative in order to face competing offers and maintain its positioning.
The Sony Company is specialised in general technological activities but the products it creates, develops and markets can be separated into different sectors which are important to know. Sony is currently present in the following sectors: IT, electronics, audiovisual, telephone communications and in particular mobile telephones, as well as the video games and musical sectors.
Currently, and in fact since this company first entered the stock market, Sony shares have been quoted on the Tokyo stock exchange in Japan. This quotation is directly and continuously updated in real time during the opening hours of this stock market. We also note that the Sony Company share price is included in the renowned Nikkei 225 stock market index which is the major Japanese index and is composed of the top 225 companies of this country.
The Sony Group exercises lobbying activities through the European Union institutions. This company is in fact represented by a specialised cabinet that has been registered since 2008 with the Registry of transparency of Interests with the European Commission.