>will trigger a recession
Gst, please don't use the "R" word around here.:-)
You need to come over to the mainland. The beating the Japanese have taken is making you negative.
>March 31, 2000
TOKYO -- Sony Corp., the world's second-largest maker of consumer electronics, plans to unite the U.S. operations of three of its entertainment units to try to broaden the distribution of its content on the Internet.
The company also said it is forming an online bank with J.P. Morgan & Co. and Sakura Bank Ltd. that will target individual depositors and sell loans and other retail banking services to the Japanese public.
The moves come as Sony expands online delivery of content and as consumers increasingly use the Web to get entertainment such as music and games, and for such services as banking from home. Combining the U.S. divisions will streamline the businesses and improve communication among them, analysts said.
"You can't just look at music or games or film really separately anymore. It's content, and that all has to be adapted toward the broadband world," said Barry Hyman, analyst at Ehrenkrantz King Nussbaum Inc. in New York.
Sony will form Sony Broadband Entertainment by the end of July to manage the U.S. parts of Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony Music Entertainment and Sony Online Entertainment.
The company said it may link the new U.S. unit in partnerships with other companies to enhance the distribution of digital content either through telecommunications networks or using broadband technology, such as wireless devices.
In online banking, Sony is betting it can use its widely known brand, together with the financial expertise of J.P. Morgan and Sakura, to expand into a market that's expected to grow in the coming years. |
