Smartphone business to become more profitable
The Japanese electronics manufacturer Sony has announced that it will relocate production from China to Thailand. The factory in Beijing is to be closed in a few days.
Smartphone segment for Sony a loss-making business
The Group hopes that this will lead to cost savings in the manufacture of smartphones, and is talking about 50 percent. Currently, the smartphone segment is a loss-making business for the manufacturer. The fiscal year now ending recorded a loss on the sale of smartphones of the equivalent of 850 million euros. Experts even advise Sony to give up the business altogether – the competition from Apple, Samsung and Huawei seems too big.
But the manufacturer hasn’t completely given up the business yet. The division is expected to be profitable again from April 2020. That’s what a company spokesman said, according to the news agency Reuters.
The company stressed that the decision was not related to the trade conflict between the USA and China. New hope is placed in the new 5G network standard. This standard plays an important role in the networking of vehicles and other devices. This is another reason why they do not want to withdraw from the market and hope not to lose the connection when implementing the technology.
Samsung also turns its back on China
Overall, Sony was able to sell just 6.5 million smartphones in the current financial year. For comparison: last year there were still more than 13 million devices. This leaves the electronics giant with a market share of less than one percent. The manufacturer was able to sell most smartphones in Europe and Japan.
The industry leader Samsung also closed a production plant in China last year. The South Korean manufacturer justified its decision with declining sales on the Chinese market, which is actually the largest in the world.
Apple is looking for solutions
But Apple is also struggling with the weakening demand for the former Cashcow iPhone. The US group is looking for new ways to win customers independently of smartphones and their accessories and to balance the saturated mobile phone market. Just recently, the Group presented the video-on-demand service Apple TV Plus. Analysts, however, reacted rather cautiously to the announcement.