Sony is a Japan based company that operates in over 180 countries worldwide. (Company Profile for Sony Corporation, 2011) Sony was co-founded by Masaru Ibuka and Aki Miruta in 1946 and since then has grown into an international multimillion dollar company (Sony Corporation, 2014). Ibuka and Miruta originally started out manufacturing measuring equipment (Sony Corporation, 2014), and have expanded into more complex technological solutions, such as laptops, gaming consoles, and communications devices. One product in particular is the PlayStation 4. The PS4 is the most recent of Sony’s gaming consoles and since its release at the end of 2013 has sold 7 million units (Plafke, 2013), raking in 45 billion dollars of revenue for Sony (n4g, 2014). The aim of this report is to assist Sony in identifying markets that they have the potential to enter. The report will include a situational analysis on Sony’s most recent product, the PlayStation 4. Through looking at the company’s current market, competitors and the external macro environment that has second hand effects on them. Furthermore, I will conduct a TOWS analysis, and then go on to make recommendations in relation to improving Sony’s corporate strategy.
SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS:
Market Analysis:
The current market for technological goods and services is very high and will only rise in the future as consumers and other companies become more reliant on it for day to day use.
Competitor Analysis:
Sony has many different competitors because they are so diverse and have many different areas of technology in which they operate. An example of Product Competition is Microsoft, as they released their Xbox One just one month before the PS4 was released. They are in a similar price range, with the Xbox One selling for $750 and the PS4 selling for $650. Since the release of these gaming consoles last year, Sony and Microsoft have been neck in neck with sales volumes and profits, but it appears that overall
Bibliography: Company Profile for Sony Corporation. (2011). Retrieved from in.reuters: http://in.reuters.com/finance/stocks/companyProfile?symbol=SNE.N InterBrand. (2009). InterBrands 2009. Retrieved from InterBrand: http://www.interbrand.com/en/ Joseph, S. (2013, November 18). Sony to Switch PS4 Marketing from low key to high impact. Retrieved from Marketing Week: http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/news/sony-to-switch-ps4-marketing-from-low-key-to-high-impact-in-2014/4008590.article MacManus, C. (2012, October 24). Sony 's PlayStation network hack. Retrieved from cnet.com: http://www.cnet.com/news/sonys-playstation-3-experiences-its-biggest-hack-yet/ n4g. (2014, March 28). PS4 reaches 7 million worldwide. Retrieved from n4g: http://n4g.com/news/1483878/ps4-reaches-7-million-worldwide-as-infamous-second-son-sells-a-million-at-launch OANDA. (2014). Historical Exchange Rates. Retrieved from OANDA: http://www.oanda.com/currency/historical-rates/ Plafke, J. (2013, November 28). PS4 sale make more profit for AMD than Sony. Retrieved from geek.com: http://www.geek.com/games/each-ps4-sale-makes-more-profit-for-amd-than-sony-but-how-much-1577855/ Singh, M. (2010, November 25). Sony Compay: Cultural Challenges. Retrieved from http://mandeepsinghsuccessmantra.blogspot.co.nz/2010/11/sony-company-cultural-challenges-new.html#!/2010/11/sony-company-cultural-challenges-new.html Sony Corporation. (2014). Sony Global - History. Retrieved from Sony: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/CorporateInfo/History/ Sony Global. (2012). Sony Global Financial Report 2012. Tokyo: Business and CSR Crew.