Sony 2009 Annual Report Download - page 19

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17
Review of Operations in the Electronics
Business
In fiscal year 2008—the year ended March 31, 2009—Sony’s
Electronics business faced a harsh operating environment,
owing to a slump in demand brought on by the global economic
downturn, as well as intensified price competition and the
continued appreciation of the yen. Under these circumstances,
Sony sought to heighten the appeal of products in each
category while also striving to improve profits and strengthen
competitiveness through ongoing efforts to reduce costs and
reassess operations.
Overview of Key Businesses
Despite waning demand attributable to the economic slowdown,
the global market for LCD televisions in fiscal year 2008 reached
approximately 107 million units, an increase of 24% from the
previous fiscal year. During the period, Sony launched a wide
range of new models that highlight our emphasis on technology
and design. These included a slim-profile 40-inch model that is a
mere 9.9mm at its thinnest point; models with Motionflow 240Hz
technology, which quadruples the frame rate to deliver smooth,
sharp reproduction of high-speed sports footage; a model with
a proprietary energy-saving motion sensor that detects the
presence or absence of people in the room and automatically turns
the television on or off accordingly; and models incorporating a
newly developed backlight that achieves industry-leading energy
efficiency. Sales of Sony LCD televisions for the fiscal year were
about 15.2 million units, an increase of 43% from the preceding
period, giving us the second-largest share of the global market(Sony
estimate, as of May 2009).
While anticipating that the harsh business environment for LCD
televisions will continue as a consequence of falling unit selling
prices and the deterioration of economic conditions, Sony will
continue working to further enhance product innovation and
competitiveness, as well as to improve the speed and efficiency of
operations.
BRAVIA™ LCD television
KDL-46V
Unit sales of LCD televisions and market share
6.3
10.6
15.2
(Millions of units)
2007 2008 2009
12% 12% 14%
*Years ended March 31
Cyber-shot™ Digital Camera
DSC-HX1