The Sony Group Corporation was formed in Tokyo, Japan, by Kenichiro Yoshida, and is headquartered in New York City. For example, among Sony's major US-based enterprises are: Sony Electronics Inc., Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., Music Publishing Inc., and Sony Music Entertainment. The company's annual sales for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2020, was around USD 76.67 billion, with approximately 114,400 employees.
· Sony’s Electronics: A San Diego-based corporation specializes in delivering audio/video equipment and information technology solutions to both individuals and enterprises. Everything from research and development to marketing to distribution to engineering to sales and customer service is in the bundle.
· Sony Pictures Entertainment: This includes all facets of entertainment product production and delivery. This encompasses both motion picture and television production and acquisition, as well as television networks.
· Sony Music Entertainment/Music Publishing: Sony Music Nashville is an independent record company that represents a number of record companies, including Sony Classical, Columbia Records, and Sony Music Nashville. Sony is often regarded as the most prominent music label in the world. It is the birthplace of a number of famous artists, including as Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, and Beyonce, in addition to world-class composers and well-known collectors.
· Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC:Is responsible for the continued growth of the PlayStation brand throughout the continents of North and South America, notably in the countries of the United States of America, Canada, and Latin America.
Sony’s Comparative Advantage
Michael Porter's concept serves as the foundation for Sony's generic strategy. As the market shifts, Sony has re-evaluated its aggressive development plan. Sony's tale shows how a generic system and ambitious growth plans based on business fundamentals and market situations have worked so well for one of the most renowned companies. Attractive and affordable options are Sony's main focus when it comes to their products. As an example, consider PlayStations. As a result, Sony is under pressure to innovate on a regular basis in order to keep up with Nintendo and Microsoft. This strategy includes market penetration (primary), new product development (secondary), new market development (secondary), and diversification.
Sony’s Supply & Demand
Sony seeks components and supplies from a wide range of suppliers in order to provide "great quality, fair rates, and a continuous supply." (18). Sony's suppliers are chosen based on their financial and operational stability, the development of new technologies for the supply of outstanding products to customers, the maintenance of low expenditures, the operation of e-commerce, and the preservation of a competitive advantage. Since Sony takes software protection infringements so seriously, its products are free of security issues. Suppliers and an ecologically friendly supply chain are also significant components of Sony's "fair business practice" and equal opportunity objective. A joint venture between Sony and Samsung has been created to keep television expenditure under control. Online product reviews make it easy for a potential buyer to collect information. It is tough for Sony to stand apart in this market despite its best efforts, despite the fact that products in this sector tend to be rather similar. As a consequence of this differentiation challenge, the price elasticity and purchasing power of the consumer are increased. (19).
America and Japan’s GDP
The bulk of Sony's facilities are located in the United States and Japan. PlayStation 5 console sales in the United States have risen as more devices are available to consumers. Japan sold 942,798 units of PlayStation 5 devices in 2021, while the United States sold 4.3 million of the gadgets.
Factors Affecting Sony’s Profitability
The state of the economy, among other things, may have an impact on Sony's profitability. Sony needs to stay up with the competition in the Electronics and Game industries. Sony must be able to manage repeated product and service openings and transitions efficiently in order to remain competitive and drive customer demand. Competition from other firms remains despite Sony's technological and financial advantages. Sony's sales and profitability might be adversely affected by changes in the company's economic, employment, and other demands.
It's possible that Sony's R&D investments may not provide the desired outcomes. It is possible that Sony may not be able to repay its increased production expenses and capital expenditures. This firm restructuring and change may not be successful, in spite of Sony's best efforts.
References
Cowen, T., & Tabarrok, A. (2015). Modern principles of economics. Macmillan International Higher Education.
Sony Corporation of America businesses – operating companies. Sony Corporation of America Businesses – Operating Companies. (n.d.). Retrieved July 3, 2022, from https://www.sony.com/en_us/SCA/who-we-are/overview.html#
SONY CORPORATION. Sony Corporation. (n.d.). Retrieved July 3, 2022, from https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/313838/000095012309016105/k02095e20vf.htm
Sony Group Portal - Sustainability Reporting. (n.d.). Retrieved July 3, 2022, from https://www.sony.com/en/SonyInfo/csr_report/
Good afternoon, great post this week! Your analysis of Sony was very thorough, your comparative advantage was definitely interesting to me as I enjoy videogames and particularly PlayStation, this products supply and demand is very obvious if you know anything about gaming, with the PlayStation 5 being sold out almost instantly each time a new shipment hits stores, almost two years after it's first release. Between the pandemic tightening up supply lines and production limitations, the PlayStation has continued to be Sony's most successful product.
Good afternoon,
This post provides a thorough, substantial review of the Sony Group Corporation from an economic standpoint. Sony is a vast company and encompasses a wide array of entertainment enterprises, many of which you listed in your milestone. Sony is a well-known household name, so learning about it more detailedly was fascinating. I was especially interested in reading the several notable music artists signed to their expansive music labels, like Aretha Franklin and Beyonce.
The strategies discussed within the "Sony's Comparative Advantage" subsection are indeed advantages but perhaps competitive or overall, not comparative specifically. A company has a comparative advantage in its market when it can continually produce goods or services at the lowest opportunity cost compared to other producers of the same goods (Cowen & Tabarrok, 2020). Examining Sony's production costs compared to their competitors like Microsoft, Apple, or Samsung should allow you to identify whether or not they hold a comparative advantage against their rivals.
I appreciated that you identified strategies Sony uses to match consumer demand, such as collaboration with other companies like Samsung and broadening their online presence for more easy accessibility. The contrast in Playstation sales in the US compared to their key market, Japan, is astounding! I would've assumed it was a much smaller margin. Overall, great job on your milestone! Thanks for an interesting read!
References
Cowen, T., & Tabarrok, A. (2020). Loose-leaf Version for Modern Principles of Economics (Fifth ed.). Worth Publishers.
Sony is a well-diverse company, with almost a segment in the major markets, entertainment, gaming, technology, and even cellular. Sony had both positive and negative effects over the past few years. In the Sony entertainment department, they had a negative hit from Theaters closing, and some went bankrupt. Although they also had a positive hit at streaming purchases. Their gaming segment had a very good year with the Playstation 5 Physical/Digital launch. However, they could not meet demand on release and still cannot meet demand. Sony Technology's department profited from the stay-at-home work and kept working as expected. Sony is one of those companies that will not fail, they may take a hit, but they won't be able to fail unless there is total economic fallout. They hold a position in all markets and almost every country. They are a truly fantastic company.
Evelyn Lara-Mason
Wk 2 Milestone Response to Isabsh
Good evening,
A little something on the gaming segment:
Sony’s strongest source of income comes from the gaming industry and network systems (Laricchia,2022). In the blue section of Graph 1, Sony’s revenue has consistently been increasing each year. While there was a slight dip in 2019, sales from 2020 to 2021 are mainly composed of game and network services with devices running in second.
Graph 1: Game and Networks (blue) Devices (Red)
Sony’s profit margin for 2021, made a profit of $24.4 billion, making it the highest-ranking segment of Sony (Laricchia, 2022). While their profits could be higher, like many other companies, Sony has suspended games and consoles to Russia due to the disagreement of Russia’s invasion in the Ukraine (Translated by, 2022). Sony placed a stop to any shipments of software or hardware and placed a stop on all and any other online stores. Many other companies like Xbox, Epic Games and Take-Two are just a few of the many companies taking a stand against the invasion of Ukraine (Translated by, 2022).
In Proverbs 31:8 it says, “Open your mouth for the mute, For the rights of all who are unfortunate and defenseless;” (Amplified Bible). Taking a loss in net profits for the people of the Ukraine, and defending them, is biblically the right thing to do. With great honor they stand with others to convey their stance.
References:
Amplified Bible (2022) Bible hub.https://biblehub.com/proverbs/31-9.htm
Laricchia, F. (2022, June 13) Sales and revenue of Sony worldwide by business segment 2012-2021. Statista.https://www.statista.com/statistics/297533/sony-sales-worldwide-by-business-segment/
Translated by Content Engine, L. L. C. (2022, Mar 10). Sony and Nintendo suspend video game shipments and operations in Russia. CE Noticias Financieras https://ezproxy.regent.edu/
Morning,
Sony is a great company to select for this assignment. With the recent pandemic electronic companies most likely found themselves doing very well with remote work and people having to stay indoors and wanting entertainment. As for the comparative advantage you mentioned regarding Sony, as someone who prefers Sony when gaming I find their goal of making affordable and attractive option is succeeding. The PlayStation is very successful and is easily their most sought after product.