Sony May Exit Smartphone and TV Businesses to Focus on PlayStation

Sony is planning a strategy that will increase its profit 25-fold over the next three years by abandoning its development of TV and smartphone devices while focusing on camera sensors and PlayStation consoles.

According to Reuters, Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai recently said that his company will be throttling down on its smartphone and television divisions to pursue sales growth in its video games, camera and entertainment branches.  This is due to Sony being slumped in the television and smartphone markets, where longtime rivals such as Samsung and Apple have repeatedly outsold the conglomerate, resulting in the company's sixth net loss in the past seven years. Sony's Bravia line of LED televisions have been outsold over the years by the likes of LG, Insignia, Westinghouse, Sharp and Samsung, with a rise in sales for cheaper, lesser known brands, such as Dynex and Vizio. Likewise, Sony's Xperia line of smartphones and tablets have been outsold by their competitors, mainly Apple's iPhone and iPad devices. Even in terms of non-iOS devices, Xperia sales have been on the decline, especially compared to the rise in popularity of the Samsung Galaxy, Motorola Droid, Google Nexus, and LG G lines of smartphones.

"The strategy starting from the next business year will be about generating profit and investing for growth," Hirai said. He also mentioned that he would not "rule out considering an exit strategy" in regards to his TV and smartphone divisions.

Sony intends to make amends for its losses by focusing more on its camera technology and PlayStation divisions, which have proven to be its best sources of profit over the past few years. Obviously, the late 2013 launch of the PlayStation 4 played a vital role in Sony recuperating some of its losses. The PC division of Sony has already been abandoned and sold off last year. What could this change in focus mean for PlayStation gamers? We're just going to have to wait and find out.