Sony pushes back profit margin target, eyes 3D TV

Sony's TV business is in its sixth straight year of losses as it struggles to compete with South Korean rivals such as Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, and analysts said it would be difficult for the unit to turn profitable soon.

The New York-trade shares of Sony fell more than 4 percent to $27.11 in early Thursday trade. Sony's Tokyo-listed shares had fallen 2.2 percent ahead of its announcement.

"It will be quite a challenge for Sony to turn its TV business profitable next year. Price declines are canceling their cost cut efforts," said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management Co.

"On 3D TVs, we just have to wait and see if it will come up with the kind of products that excite consumers ... I don't think many people were convinced enough today to go and buy Sony shares tomorrow."

Sony plans to introduce 3D TVs next year and aims for more than 1 trillion yen ($11.24 billion) in sales of 3D-related products in the year ending March 2013.

The Japanese company's PlayStation 3 game consoles can become 3D-compatible by simply updating its software via the Internet, Sony said.

Sony, which also makes Cyber-shot digital cameras, pushed back its target for an operating profit margin of 5 percent to March 2013. Chief Executive Howard Stringer had originally set the target in 2005 for the financial year to March 2008, but plans for recovery were waylaid by the economic slowdown.

NOT OUT OF THE WOODS

Sony plans to launch a wide range of network-capable TVs, Blu-ray players and electronic book readers, and introduce a new online service to distribute movies, music, books and games to those machines.

Sony plans to boost such online sales to 300 billion yen by the year ending March 2013, up from an estimated 50 billion yen this year. It already offers video game titles online to PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable users.

"When you tie innovative new hardware together with compelling content network services and common user interface across products, you've created a unique user experience that can differentiate Sony from the competition," Stringer said.