Sony Strategy

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, based in London, is responsible for the

distribution, marketing and sales of PS one and PlayStation 2 hardware and software in
104 territories across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Oceania.
By the 30 September 2005, over 40 million PlayStation and PS one units had been
shipped across these PAL territories and over 102 million worldwide. Between its
European debut on 24 November 2000 and 29 November 2005, over 37 million
PlayStation 2 units had been shipped across the PAL territories, over 102 million world-
wide, making it one of the most successful computer entertainment products in history.
Between the launch of the PSP in Japan in December 2005 and 21 October 2005, over 10
million PSPs had been shipped worldwide.
With over 1100 employees in 11 countries and sales operations in another 91 countries,
SCEE is capable of exploiting the opportunities that arise in its existing territories and its
emerging markets in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
SCEE also has staff based in the Development Studios in London, Liverpool and
Cambridge, and at the Quality Evaluation Department in Liverpool.

Sony's roots were planted in a bombed out Department Store in Tokyo in 1946. Masaru
Ibuka, an Engineer, and Akio Morita, a Physicist, invested the equivalent of £845.00 to
start a company with 20 employees repairing electrical equipment and attempting to build
their own products.
The success story really began when Tokyo Tsuchin Kogyo, as the company was named,
obtained a license in 1954 to make transistors. The transistor had been invented in
America but it had not been applied to radios, which were valve driven appliances. Sony
made Japan's first transistor in May 1954 and the first all-transistor radio.
Since then Sony has led the field in invention and innovation - with the first Trinitron
Colour Television in 1968, the colour video-cassette in 1971, the Betamax VCR which
was the world's first home use video system in...
Growing World Of Sony
It's not news that Sony is a global company or that (25%) of all Play Station profits' for
the past seven years came from Sony to Japan. After all that's what international
marketing and the global economy are all about, companies like Sega, Nintendo,
Microsoft, X-Box doing business around the world. The global economy now reaches
every corner of the United States. Current interest in international marketing can be
explained by changing competitive structures coupled with shifts in demand
characteristics in markets throughout the world. With the increasing globalization of
markets, companies find they are unavoidably enmeshed with foreign customers,
competitors and suppliers. A significant portion of all products made in the United States
is foreign made.
Japan's economy is based on a strong work ethic and being a leader of technology, in
which has helped Japan advance to the second most powerful economy in the world. One
notable characteristic of the economy is the working together of manufacturers, suppliers,
and distributors in closely-knit groups called keiretsu. The keiretsu, which means "order"
or "system," is a unique form of business that links companies together in industrial
groups that provide Japanese business with a substantial competitive edge over non-
keiretsu organizations. Keiretsus are collections of dozens of major companies spanning
several industries and held together by cross-shareholding, old-boy networks,
interlocking directorates, long-term business relationships, and social and historical links.
There are six major Japanese industrial keiretsu groups and eleven lesser ones. Together,
the sales in these groups are responsible for about 25 percent of the activities of all Japan,
and keiretsus account for 78 percent of the value of all shares on the Tokyo Stock
Exchange.
Japan's industry, which is the most important sector of the economy, is heavily dependent
on imported raw materials and fuels. For three decades overall real economic...

As a mobile phone manufacturer, Sony Ericsson’s strengths lie in the creation

and innovation of fantastic products. Sony Ericsson also has strong
experience in mobile phone technology. The company’s weaknesses are
considered of low effective distribution channel and lacking of strong partners
to collaborate with and move the products down to the retail sales channel.
The opportunities are including of the company’s strategy of doing things
differently in everything they do, the company can be fast to exploit market
opportunities where competitors may move slowly or fail to act. Threats are
mainly come from the competitors. SamSung and Nokia are attacking the
low-end segment. Motorola is increasing focus on customer intimacy and
meeting customer requirements.

In my estimation, in order to improve those weaknesses and threats, the

company should, firstly, concentrate on maintaining and developing its
distribution channel, work more closely with operators and run co-operative
promotion programs, for instant, card and phone bundled promotion for new
subscribers using operator’s network. Secondly, Sony Ericsson can improve
customer services to compete against lower price competitors. They can
develop more customer services program, introducing self-installed software
to enable the consumer upgrade their mobile phone without getting help
from service centers. This can help to ensure total customer satisfaction.