MUNICH, Germany — In an interview with Die Welt online, Sony CEO Howard Stringer appeared disappointed with the performance of Sony's mobile phone joint venture with Ericsson. In the interview Stringer hinted that break-up or reorganization was possible if things don't improve.
Stringer said the past year was a difficult one for the joint venture. "But it is never easy to buy out a partner," he added in the interview. He also said that the JV needs to find its way to reach the close cooperation it enjoyed two years ago. "Otherwise we will have to find an own solution," he said.
Stringer also described the company's strategy to network-enable every consumer electronics device produced; with implementation of the goal by 2011. "Our engineers have to work on standardization across diverse industries, in consumer electronics as well as in the movie and music business," he said.
At the upcoming IFA consumer trade fair in Berlin (Aug. 29 through Sept. 3), Sony will show what Stringer claimed is the world's slimmest LCD TV receiver. The device will be less than one centimeter thick. In addition, the company will present a TV receiver with an image rate of 200 Hz.
Sony is not making profit despite the sales of its popular Playstation 3 game console, Stringer admitted. That Sony could sell more consoles than it is currently able to produce, is an extra source of frustration. In answer to a question as to whether the PS3 could ever break even, Stringer said: "not for as long as I live."
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