Sony 2007 Annual Report Download - page 48

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45
R&D Expenses
R&D expenses for the period increased ¥12.1 billion, or 2.3%, to ¥543.9 billion from the
prior fiscal year. This is equivalent to 7.1% of net sales and operating revenue, excluding the
Financial Services segment, which was down from 7.8% a year earlier.
R&D expenses in the Electronics segment increased ¥22.3 billion, or 5.3%, to ¥440.4 billion,
while expenses in the Game segment decreased ¥10.8 billion, or 9.9%, to ¥97.9 billion.
Key Technological Fields and Concrete Strategies
Based on a firm belief that R&D is essential to growing our business, we are pursuing efforts
to develop a broad range of technologies, including those intended to support existing
products and services and those that will create new markets.
We have identified four key technological fields for Sony going forward. One is platforms
for home and mobile electronics, and the remaining three are semiconductor, device and
software technologies, from which Sony products derive their distinctive, value-added features.
To strengthen platforms for home and mobile electronics, we are focusing on high definition
(HD)-related technologies. In particular, we are endeavoring to accelerate product development
by leveraging such core components as advanced video codec high definition (AVCHD)
encoders and other system large-scale integrated circuits (LSIs).
In semiconductors, we are developing technologies to enable the application of elemental
technologies used in Cell, our high-performance processor, in electronics products. We are
also reinforcing our technological capabilities in complementary metal oxide semiconductor
(CMOS) image sensors, for which applications are expected to expand significantly, and in
charged-coupled device (CCD) image sensors, for which we enjoy a market-leading position.
R&D in the area of device technologies focuses on touch-screen and other high-
performance technologies for small liquid crystal displays (LCDs) used in mobile devices and
organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs1), much anticipated for use in next-generation displays.
In the software realm, we bolstered our development capabilities for middleware that
offers better user interfaces and facilitates home networks, as well as for application programs,
codecs (coders/decoders) and digital rights management (DRM) software. Of particular note,
we established a company-wide, cross-business software organization with the aim of
enhancing our software engineering capabilities. We continue to implement measures aimed
at bolstering engineer training and software quality assurance systems, including reinforcing
our systems architect qualification and personnel exchange programs.
In April 2007, we established the B2B Solutions Business Group in a bid to generate new
opportunities by enhancing our business-to-business operations.
1With an OLED, the electric current flow through an organic material causes the material to generate
electroluminescent light.
Research and Development
45
*Years ended March 31
600
450
300
150
0
531.8
418.1
108.7
5.0
440.4
97.9
5.6
433.3
68.5
0.2
543.9
502.0
2005
(Yen in billions)
2006 2007
■ Electronics
■ Game
■ Other
R&D Expenses