Sony aiming to take 40% share of Blu-ray market

Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Kyodo News

Sony Corp. is aiming to secure the leading position in the market for the Blu-ray next-generation DVD format with a share of more than 40 percent, President Ryoji Chubachi said.

"We definitely want to take the leading position" in the global Blu-ray market, although competition is expected to intensify, Chubachi said in a recent interview.

There has been a shortage of Blu-ray products since late last year and demand got a further boost after Toshiba Corp. announced in February its exit from the competing HD DVD format, allowing Blu-ray — promoted by Sony, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. and Sharp Corp. — to become the industry standard for next-generation DVDs.

To meet "very strong" demand, Chubachi suggested that Sony will make a major investment to boost production of Blu-ray players and recorders as it plans to more than triple its combined shipments in business 2008 through March 2009 over the previous year to around 7 million units.

A three-year business plan announced by Sony late last month envisages expanding revenues in the Blu-ray disc-related segment to the ¥1 trillion level by the end of business 2010 as another of its "trillion yen businesses," which include liquid crystal display TVs, gaming and mobile phones.

Sony, which booked record-high group sales and net profit in business 2007, which ended in March, now plans to make a total investment of about ¥1.8 trillion by the end of business 2010 to make its business recovery more certain.

Chubachi, chief executive officer of Sony's electronics division, said TVs are important for boosting its consumer electronics business, vowing to make the firm "the world's No. 1 TV maker."

As for thin LCD TVs, he said Sony has already established a well-organized sales system, noting the procurement of LCD panels is also sufficiently coordinated thanks to tieups with Sharp and Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea.

Organic light-emitting diode TVs, featuring an ultra-thin high-resolution screen, will be one of the major items to receive funding under the ¥1.8 trillion investment plan, he said.

Sony released the world's first OLED TV in Japan late last year with an 11-inch screen.

"I know there is little demand for mass-production of the 11-inch (TV) and people want bigger screens and cheaper models," Chubachi said.

He said Sony is still in the "development stage" with regard to making bigger OLED TVs but intends to make definite moves by March 2011, including the introduction of a larger OLED TV.