Rumours coming out of Bloomberg and Reuters are saying that Sony is looking to dispose of their loss making PC division. The announcement could be made as soon as tomorrow, and could possibly include the VAIO brand. The plan will apparently involve selling the division to investment fund Japan Investment Partners.
There are also talks of a potential deal for a joint venture with Lenovo. This venture would see Lenovo taking over the PC division. Engadget reached out to Sony for a comment on the matter and was directed to a statement made a couple of days ago,
“A press report on February 1, 2014 stated that Sony Corporation (“Sony”) is discussing with Lenovo Group (“Lenovo”) the possible establishment of a joint venture for the PC business. As Sony has announced previously, Sony continues to address various options for the PC business, but the press report on a possible PC business alliance between Sony and Lenovo is inaccurate”.
PC sales have been on a decline with sales dropping as much as 10 percent in 2013. Sony has been very successful with its mobile and video game divisions, which makes their PC division the least profitable venture for the company. While it has not commented on the possibility of a sale, the company has said it plans to revise the product and manufacturing strategy for the Vaio unit as smartphones and tablets chip away at it PC business.
[source: Bloomberg, Reuters, Engadget]
