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Sony reports improved
operating income gains
Sony Corp. announced its operating
income, which was 184.9 billion yen
(US$1,541 million) in comparison
to an operating loss of 15.8 billion
yen in the same period of the
last fiscal year. Sony posted a net
profit of 115.9 billion yen on sales
of 3700.8 billion yen (US$30840
million), flat year-on-year due to a
substantial decrease in the Mobile
communications segment offset
by an increase in sales of the Game
and Network services and Device
segments along with the impact of
foreign exchange rates.Sharp profit declines
by 84 bn yen
Sharp Corp. announced a net profit
of 26 billion yen, down by 84 billion
yen over the previous year.This
year-on-year drop was attributed to
the sluggish sales of LCD panels for
smartphone usage and severe price
competition was also stated as one
of the reasons for this performance.
The company has estimated that
sales will decrease by 100 billion
yen in comparison to the previous
projection of 2,700 billion yen. The
profit in operation is about 10 billion
yen, which is 70 billion less from the
earlier projection.Toshiba in talks with Sony on image
sensor business
T
oshiba is in advanced talks
regarding the selling of its image
sensor business to Sony in a
deal estimated at around 20 billion
yen (US$166.6 million). The move
has come after Toshiba contemplated
restructuring after an accounting
scandal. It would result in ceding
some of its production facilities in thecity of Oita. Sony would step up as a
global leader in image sensors fitted
in smartphones and other electronics
equipped with camera functions.Other than production equipment, Sony
will also take over some employees
as well as customer accounts, which
include automakers and camera
manufacturers.
Toshiba will in effect withdraw
from the image sensor market and
concentrate its semiconductor
investment on its more competitive
memory business. The company
also has plans to mass produce its
expanded-capacity flash memory—
NAND—at Yokkaichi near Nagoya in Q1
of 2016.Sony will use this acquisition toexpand its CMOS sensor production
capacity. The company had also
announced plans to channel about
420 billion yen (US$3.5 billion)
in equity and debt financing into
production as well as research and
development of these components.
The company also intends to increase
its monthly output by nearly 30% till
September 2016. Sony has prepared
itself for an increase in demand for
image sensors.According to Techno Systems Research,
last year, Toshiba’s global market share
in CMOS sensors summed up to just
about 1.9% in comparison to Sony’s
40.3% share. Sony’s investments in
this business will also help Toshiba in
keeping the competition at bay from
Samsung Electronics.Canon and Fujitsu tie
up to develop corporate
support system
Canon Inc. and Fujitsu Ltd. announced
that they will create a marketing
support system for corporate
professionals by utilising network
surveillance camera systems. Both
the companies are developing a
solution to assist logistics and
tourism industries. Canon will utilise
its expertise in image analysis from
the images collected in a shop and
analyse the movement of shoppers.
For example, information related to
shoppers will be clubbed into rough
age groups and their gender along
with their movement from productto product. Fujitsu’s expertise lies
in data analysis. It will estimate the
buying behaviour of these people and
store the information on its cloud
computer system. Through this data,
suggestions will be made regarding
the way in which products should
be laid out and suitable marketing
activities keeping in check shoppers’
characteristics. When it comes to
the tourism industry, combination
of network cameras and Fujitsu’s
GPS services will suggest touristic
facilities and the layout of souvenir
shops for efficient operations.22
Smart PhotographyDecember 2015http://www.smartphotography.in