Sony 2005 Annual Report Download - page 10

8 Sony Corporation
Electronics
http://www.sony.net/electronics/
Review of Operations
DVD Recorders
Going into the 2004 year-end holiday sales season, we introduced new
Sugoroku DVD recorders featuring a high-capacity hard disk drive (HDD) and
an electronic program guide (EPG). These models also feature an automatic
recording function, which uses the EPG to automatically locate and record all
programs related to a particular keyword entered by the user.
Sugoroku, developed as an attractive post-VHS unit offering high picture quality,
easy operation and intelligent recording, has expanded and enhanced our product
mix. The PSX, a fun-to-use DVD recorder that enables users to enjoy video, music,
photographs and games on a single unit, is carving out a new market for intelligent
entertainment devices. These efforts will position us to respond to increasingly
diverse customer needs in the rapidly expanding market for DVD recorders.
DVD recorder
Home Electronics
Televisions and other home electronics products with enhanced performance
and ease of use have become the hub of the modern living room, essential to
the enjoyment of television programming, movies, games and other types of
entertainment content.
With demand continuing to shift from cathode-ray tube (CRT) televisions toward flat
panel televisions, Sony is concentrating management resources on LCD and LCD
rear-projection televisions. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2005, we reinforced our
lineup of LCD televisions with the introduction of lower-cost models as well as high-
end models with outstanding picture quality. Efforts to differentiate models contrib-
uted to a significant rise in Sony’s market share during the 2004 year-end holiday
sales season. Of particular importance to this achievement were dramatic improve-
ments in three fundamental areas: picture quality, audio fidelity and ease of operation.
The new WEGA Engine HD, an integrated digital high-definition system developed to
deliver greater depth and a higher degree of realism, renders a highly precise, beauti-
ful picture. The S-Master sound engine is a 100W output, full-digital amplifier that
capitalizes on Sony’s capabilities in high-fidelity audio to deliver the crystal clear audio
reproduction essential to complement large-screen viewing. The xross (“cross”) media
bar (XMB) is a graphical user interface (GUI) that applies technologies developed in
the games business to enhance operability, enabling people to access and enjoy
content from a variety of devices on their televisions quickly and easily—an important
consideration in this era of increasingly multifunctional televisions.
In spring 2005, we further expanded our lineup in Japan with the Happy Wega series
of digital high-definition (HD) televisions, which have earned a strong reputation. The
Happy Wega series uses fewer components and employs the same structure and cir-
cuitry as other Wega televisions. This led to a reduction of material and other manu-
facturing costs and is helping to improve the profitability of our LCD televisions.
Sony will begin sourcing LCD panels from S-LCD Corporation, our joint venture with
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. of Korea, as well as promoting in-house sourcing of
other key devices. These efforts should enable us to achieve further cost reductions—
already realized with the Happy Wega series—in other LCD televisions.
We plan to launch HD televisions featuring Cell, a next-generation, high-performance
processor developed in cooperation with IBM Corporation and Toshiba Corporation.
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