Sony 2000 Annual Report Download - page 93

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SONY CORPORATION ANNUAL REPORT 2000
91
21. Commitments and contingent liabilities
Commitments outstanding at March 31, 2000 for the
purchase of property, plant and equipment and other
assets approximated ¥24,600 million ($232 million).
Contingent liabilities for guarantees given in the
ordinary course of business and for employee loans
amounted to ¥93,310 million ($880 million) at March
31, 2000.
Certain subsidiaries in the music business have
entered into long-term contracts with recording artists
and companies for the production and/or distribution of
prerecorded music and videos. These contracts cover
various periods mainly through March 31, 2004. As of
March 31, 2000, these subsidiaries were committed to
make payments under such long-term contracts of
¥49,110 million ($463 million).
Sony Corporation and certain of its subsidiaries are
defendants in several pending lawsuits. However, based
upon the information currently available to both Sony
and its legal counsel, management of Sony believes that
damages from such lawsuits, if any, would not have a
material effect on Sony’s consolidated financial statements.
22. Business segment information
Effective for the year ended March 31, 1998, Sony
adopted FAS 131, “Disclosures about Segments of an
Enterprise and Related Information” which requires
disclosure of financial and descriptive information about
Sony’s reportable operating segments. The operating
segments reported below are the segments of Sony for
which separate financial information is available and
for which operating profit/loss amounts are evaluated
regularly by executive management in deciding how to
allocate resources and in assessing performance.
The Electronics segment designs, develops, manu-
factures and distributes audiovisual, informational and
communicative equipment, instruments and devices
throughout the world. The Game segment designs,
develops and sells PlayStation game consoles and related
software mainly in Japan, the United States of America
and Europe, and licenses to third party software devel-
opers. The Music segment is mainly engaged world-
wide in the development, production, manufacture, and
distribution of recorded music, in all commercial formats
and musical genres. The Pictures segment develops,
produces and manufactures image-based software,
including film, video, and television mainly in the
United States of America, and markets, distributes and
broadcasts in the worldwide market. The Insurance
segment represents insurance-related underwriting
business, primarily individual life insurance and non-life
insurance businesses in the Japanese market. The Other
segment consists of various operating activities, primarily
including leasing and credit card businesses in Japan, a
business focused on parts trading services within the
Sony group, advertising agents in Japan, satellite distri-
bution services including program supplying businesses
in Japan, Internet-related businesses in the United States
of America, and development and operation of location-
based entertainment complexes in the United States of
America. Sony’s products and services are generally
unique to a single operating segment.