Sony 2003 Annual Report Download - page 33

Sony Corporation Annual Report 2003 31
Optical Disc Systems for Professional Use
Sony has long played a pioneering role in the development of audio and video equipment for the
professional market. In the spring of 2003, Sony unveiled the world’s first professional-use optical disc
system that uses a blue-violet laser. Each 12cm-diameter optical disc holds 23GB of data, equivalent
to 90 minutes of recording time in the DV compression (25M bps) mode, and 45 minutes in the M PEG
IM X compression (50M bps) mode, both of w hich are used in most professional systems.
The system features all the convenience of the optical disc format, the ability to record metadata
(such as time, location, information about subjects and low resolution visuals), as w ell as netw ork
technology. These features lay the groundwork for a whole new operating environment for broad-
casters by dramatically cutting the time required to prepare material for broadcasting. Several major
broadcast netw orks, leasing companies and other customers in a number of countries have adopted
this system or expressed an interest in doing so.
Sony is making significant contributions to the field of broadcast and professional content creation.
Mobile Phone
Sony Ericsson M obile Communications AB (SEM C), established on October 1, 2001, is an equally
owned joint venture between Sony and LM Ericsson in Sweden. The joint venture’s objective is to
become a w orld leader in the mobile phone industry through the combination of Sony and Ericsson’s
complementary strengths.
During the year under review, SEM C launched several attractive products in a variety of markets. In
the GSM market, the P800 gained attention as a handset integrating telephony with personal digital
assistant, digital camera, music and video player and gaming capabilities. The T300 targeted the mass
market w ith its color screen and Multimedia Messaging capability. And the T100, with its attractive
design, ranked among the best-selling models in several markets in the Asia Pacific region. In the
Japanese market, SEM C sold the A1101S and SO212i handsets, among others,
for the CDMA and PDC networks, respectively.
For the emerging W-CDMA (“ third generation” ) network primarily in Europe,
SEM C has announced the Z1010, which provides video telephony and stream-
ing video in a single, attractive clamshell package. The Z1010 is scheduled to be
introduced in the latter half of calendar 2003.
http://ww w.sonyericsson.com/
HARDWARE BUSINESS
S0212i A1101S Z1010
P800
Optical Disc Camcorder Mobile Deck