Sony 2006 Annual Report Download - page 41

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ALL OTHER
Sony Communication Network Corporation (SCN) is primarily
engaged in extending So-net-branded Internet services in two
categories, Connection Services and Portal Services, in Japan.
Japan’s market for broadband Internet services continues to
grow. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and
Communications, subscribers to constant-connection broadband
services—including asymmetric digital subscriber lines (ADSLs),
fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) and cable television—numbered 22.38
million as of December 31, 2005, with market penetration reaching
44% of households. As of March 31, 2006, So-net provided
services to 3.03 million subscribers, up 580,000 from 2.45 million
from a year earlier. Broadband services accounted for 830,000 of
these subscribers, an increase of 190,000, reflecting intensive
sign-up campaigns, particularly for FTTH.
In July 2005, SCN launched Portable TV (P-TV) in Japan. This
video-on-demand (VOD) service that enables subscribers to
download movies, television dramas, animation and other high-
quality content to a Memory Stick™ via their PC for replay on a
PSP® (PlayStation®Portable). P-TV is billed as “mobile VOD,” that
is, a VOD service that enables subscribers to download a wide
variety of top-quality video content from many prominent providers,
including animation and comedies, to a Memory Stick for replay
anywhere and anytime.
SCN has offered Internet connection services since 1996.
Believing that SCN would be better able to realize its full potential
within the Sony Group with greater independence and the flexibility
to adopt its own management structures and growth strategies to
raise corporate value, Sony delisted its subsidiary tracking stock
and in December 2005 listed shares of SCN’s common stock on
the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Mothers market (“market of high-
growth and emerging stocks”). In October 2006, SCN plans to
change its name to So-net Entertainment Corporation. This move
is designed to promote consistency between the company’s
name and its well-known So-net brand name and, by adding
“entertainment,” to underscore its goal of providing network-based
services that offer dreams, excitement and fun.
SCN affiliates So-net M3, Inc., and DeNA Co., Ltd.—both of
which were listed on Mothers in the year ended March 31, 2005—
continue to see steady expansion of their businesses. So-net M3
provides pharmaceutical marketing support centered on m3.com,
a portal for physicians in Japan. In May 2006, the subscriber base
for m3.com reached more than half of Japan’s 257,000 licensed
physicians. DeNA offers e-commerce services, including Mobaoku,
an auction site for mobile phone users, and bidders, an auction
and shopping site. In March 2006, the number of subscribers for
the rapidly growing Mobaoku topped 600,000.
Aniplex Inc., a Sony Group animated film planning and production
company, launched BLOOD+, a television series based upon
its full digital theatrical release BLOOD THE LAST VAMPIRE, which
earned critical acclaim in Hollywood. The companies of the Sony
Group are lending their full support to BLOOD+ and Aniplex’s
business on a global scale. In addition to the launch of a BLOOD+
video package and Internet transmission of BLOOD+ by other
Group companies, Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) provided the
opening and closing theme music for the series and Sony Pictures
Entertainment will handle distribution outside of Japan, while Sony
Computer Entertainment plans to release games for PlayStation®2
and PSP®.
©2005 I.G・ANX・MBS・H