Chapter 1232 Quagmire (4k)

On October 13, Sony Director Ryoji Nakabachi, Chief Financial Officer Katsumi Ihara, President of Computer Entertainment Yoshihisa Ishida, Executive Vice President Hiroshi Yoshioka and others arrived in New York by plane.

This is a journey to seek the future of Sony.

In addition to Katsumi Ihara, Ryoji Nakabachi, Yoshihisa Ishida and Hiroshi Yoshioka are all interested in competing for the position of Sony's head, and they are also aware of the dire situation the company is facing at this moment.

However, as long as you become the head, everything will be fine. Can it be worse than Stringer?

When the plane landed, the group took a car to the New York headquarters. The first news that caught their eyes was the plunge in Sony's stock price.

After two days of the weekend, the secondary market finally reacted to Sony's stock price. On Monday and Tuesday, the market value fell by 21%, evaporating $8.4 billion.

Throughout the Stringer era, although Sony's financial reports were acceptable, they were just acceptable. The market value has been declining smoothly. As of Wikipedia's revelations, Sony's market value was only $40.2 billion.

This is the result of Stringer's best efforts.

For Sony, whose market value exceeded 120 billion US dollars in 2000, 40.2 billion market value is not really high, but no one expected that this number is still too high for Sony now.

In just two days, almost an Olympus fell. This is the shock brought by Sony. It, together with Olympus and Takata, led the decline of the entire Nikkei sector.

Many people call this the "next generation Sony shock".

Because Sony once lost 1 billion US dollars due to a sharp drop in profits of 98% in 2003, which led to the decline of high-tech stocks in the Nikkei index. It has been called a "Sony shock" and eventually led to the resignation of the head Nobuyuki Idei.

After eight years, entering the second decade of the 21st century, Sony has made a comeback and lived up to the name of the next generation.

But this time Sony's shock has not been completed, because the market value is different from 8 years ago. It is now named because it is the most famous of the three companies mentioned in the Wikipedia revelations. Many media, institutions, and shareholders are still watching the situation of the remaining Japanese companies that will inevitably appear.

A group of senior executives from Tokyo arrived at the New York headquarters, and their expressions became more serious.

Although they had the desire to move to a higher position, Sony's current situation was still a thorny problem.

At 9:30 in the morning, although they were in their own company, the group of people who were still unfamiliar met CEO Stringer, who had not yet been approved to resign.

Although the company's business was in a mess and the stock price began to plummet, Stringer, who had been running the company for a long time, still had his own faction.

Based on this situation, Nakabachi Ryoji believed that a low-key breakup was the best way. What he hoped most was to take over the people in Stringer's hands, and then get the recommendation of Stringer and Fang Zhuo at the board of directors and shareholders' meeting, and gather the support of confused shareholders to reach the top of Sony.

The conference room was large, and there were few people left in the conference room.

When Fang Zhuo arrived as scheduled, he saw Stringer, Nakabachi Ryoji, Ishida Yoshihisa, and Yoshioka Hiroshi sitting at the table in a stagnant atmosphere.

He asked casually with some surprise: "Where is Katsumi Ihara?"

"We had a big fight just now, and she went out." Nakabachi Ryoji answered.

"She had a fight in Tokyo and in New York, why didn't she resign?" Fang Zhuo said puzzledly, "She doesn't think that as long as the jazz resigns, everything will be fine, right?"

No one answered this question.

After a while, Stringer spoke up: "Sony has planned to have an external audit to thoroughly sort out the situation. I think it is necessary in the current situation."

As of now, how much Sony will lose, which business lines are the hardest hit, and what measures will be taken to turn losses into profits are urgent issues that Sony and the outside world are concerned about.

Singer, who is about to step down completely, agreed to the plan of Nakabachi, Ishida and other Tokyo executives in a very short time with a nonchalant attitude, and let the external audit thoroughly understand Sony's financial situation.

Under normal circumstances, although family disgrace should not be made public, the discussion outside is no longer limited to the figures leaked by Wikipedia. Some say that Sony lost $8 billion, and some even think that it lost $10 billion.

In addition, Nakabachi and Ishida are also afraid that Sony still has some hidden bombs. If they don't figure it out, if they encounter an explosion when they get promoted, it will be a lot of fun.

Fang Zhuo glanced at the people present, nodded, and said, "Sony does need a frank discussion, and some painful measures to turn the situation around."

Stringer began to enter a state of decay and did not move.

Nakabachi Ryoji and Ishida Yoshihisa, who still had fighting spirit in their hearts, nodded first. Yoshioka Hiroshi, who knew that his business was suffering from serious losses, thought about this for a while before nodding.

Frankness is painful.

Many times, frankness is painful, and then it must be quite painful.

Yoshioka Hiroshi had some small thoughts about the CEO position in his mind, but they were not particularly strong, because he knew that the Sony TV business under his leadership was a burden.

Ishida Yoshihisa was different. He was in charge of computer entertainment and had PS, a product that maintained a certain market share, so he was relatively tough.

The two of them, together with Hirai Kazuo and Suzuki Kunimasa, were previously known as the "Sony Four Musketeers". It is worth mentioning that Suzuki Kunimasa had left Sony because of a conflict with Stringer.

"After all, I'm just an outside director. I don't know much about Sony's affairs, so I can't talk too much about it. Even if I talk less, what I talk about may be wrong." Fang Zhuo made his attitude clear when he came up.

Ryoji Nakaba immediately said: "Mr. Fang, you have a far-sighted vision for the company's operations and business development. Sony needs your guidance in this area right now."

"Just now I said that we must be open and honest. I have always believed that professional things must be done by professional people in my company. Sony has so many businesses. Only high-level executives like you can have an overview. Specific thoughts on how to reform." Fang Zhuo said calmly, "No matter how much Sony suffers this time, I believe that Sony can still recover as long as the reforms are in place. The key to its recovery lies in the reform strategy of the new CEO."

We have already suffered such a loss, and now we have to look at the new leader.

Ryoji Nakabachi understood what Mr. Fang meant, and now he wanted to talk about the last topic that was not discussed much online before, how Sony will go in the future.

This is probably a judgment call.

You have to have bright spots to get to the top, and you can't compete for CEO if you are confused.

When Nakabachi Ryoji thought of this, he became cautious and thought about how to talk more frankly about Sony's future on this occasion.

He glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw that Yoshihisa Ishida's expression was also very solemn, but Hiroshi Yoshioka was a little distracted.

Seeing that no one took the initiative to speak, Fang Zhuo said with a smile: "Because I am not professional, I also listened to the ideas of professionals within Sony. I think his ideas have a high artistic content."

The three Tokyo executives pricked up their ears because of Mr. Fang's statement.

"Sony is too big and suffers too many losses. It should travel lightly and throw away its baggage so that it can quickly transform in the mobile era." Fang Zhuo said, "For example, the LCD panel on the TV can be stopped, and the computer can VAIO can be sold, the chemistry department can be broken up, and the optical drive department can be disbanded."

Ryoji Nakabachi frowned, a little radically.

Ishida Jiajiu pursed his lips. He was responsible for the computer VAIO, and it still had some potential.

Hiroshi Yoshioka suddenly stood up: "Who said this? We have invested heavily in LCD projects in cooperation with Samsung and Sharp, and they will be profitable in the future. Do we have to throw them away just because of the current global market cycle? Who is it?”

He is responsible for the TV group business, which includes LCD projects.

However, Sony's TV business has suffered losses for eight consecutive years, and may have an operating loss of more than 2.5 billion US dollars this year, which is indeed a major factor dragging down the company's overall performance.

But, but, but this... we can't just stop the LCD project!

This is a cooperation that was achieved at great cost!

Hiroshi Yoshioka did not speak out during this period because of the losses in the TV business, but he did not expect that someone actually proposed to abandon his important projects.

"In a matter-of-fact discussion, what's the point of asking who it is?" Fang Zhuo did not mention Kazuo Hirai's name and maintained an objective stance, "Shouldn't the LCD project be axed?"

Yoshioka Hiroshi objected categorically: "You shouldn't!"

Fang Zhuo looked at Ryoji Nakahachi and Yoshida Ishida who were silent, frowned and said: "Hiroshi Yoshioka, at this moment, we are talking about the issue from the perspective of Sony as a whole. I know you are responsible for the LCD, but you should start from Starting from the overall situation.”

Hiroshi Yoshioka had no intention of giving in. He argued rationally: "It is precisely because of the overall interests that I firmly oppose giving up the LCD project. This round of global cycle is led by Samsung. On one side, the market is falling, and on the other side, Samsung’s counter-cyclical expansion of production capacity has increasingly led to a collapse in prices.”

"However, this downward cycle is about to end! LCD prices will rise by the end of next year at the latest, and then it will be an upward cycle!"

"Are we going to abandon it in the darkness before dawn?"

Fang Zhuo did not answer the question and asked Nakabachi Ryoji and Ishida Yoshihisa: "What do you think?"

Ryoji Nakabachi didn't say anything. He was also dissatisfied with the TV and LCD that were holding them back, but if he really wanted to say that, he would just cut it off... It's debatable.

Ishida Yoshihisa said slowly: "What Yoshioka Hiroshi said makes sense. We can't just focus on the present. The stock price and market value are one aspect. On the other hand, we must also focus on long-term development."

Fang Zhuo's index finger tapped on the table with a crisp and rhythmic sound.

Look, this kind of thing means that the parents-in-law have their own reasons, and reform is so difficult.

He lowered his head slightly and thought for a while, then took out his mobile phone and said, "I also want to hear the opinions of other LCD manufacturers. I have friends in China in this field."

Others didn't know, but Hiroshi Yoshioka knew who he was talking about. He was talking about China BOE, which was said to have stabbed the Samsung Alliance under the instigation of President Fang, causing them to be severely punished by Europe and the United States.

In the past few years, Samsung and other manufacturers were investigated by various countries due to suspected monopoly, but BOE, which acted as a tainted witness, was exempted from punishment.

Fang Zhuo got on the phone quickly and was chatting with BOE about the global cycle of the industry in Chinese.

Among the other four people present, two of them knew Chinese, and both Nakabachi Ryoji and Ishida Yoshihisa heard the conclusion.

Indeed, as Hiroshi Yoshioka said, BOE also believes that a new round of rising cycle is expected to arrive next year or the year after next, which will be a sweet period of at least two or three years.

Fang Zhuo put down his mobile phone and informed Stringer of his friend's conclusion in English. He smiled and said: "There is a saying in China that is good. If you listen to both, you will be enlightened, and if you listen to one side, you will be dark. Hiroshi Yoshioka is right. This kind of design applies to professional fields and technology. Matters in the field really need to be judged by those with technical background. We don’t understand it. After listening to what he said, we subconsciously felt that there was a plan and strategy.”

Stringer took a while and said "hmm". He didn't expect that part of Hirai's suggestion would be like this.

If you look at it this way, you really need to think carefully about whether to sell LCD projects.

Listening to this, the Tokyo trio, although they still haven't heard the name, actually have a candidate in mind. There are only a few senior executives without technical background, and those who are on Stringer's side are easier to lock in. .

Ishida Yoshida saw that Mr. Fang really discussed the matter, and also talked about his views on the computer VAIO. He believed that part of the focus should not be on the business line, but on shrinking the channel line.

Sony's channels are very messy, and the problems of out-of-stock and squeeze are very serious. This is a practical problem that is easy to be ignored while focusing on the grand strategy.

Yoshihisa Ishida even talks about this aspect using meridians as a metaphor.

Fang Zhuo did not express his position, but asked Stringer for his opinion.

Stringer did not express his position too much. Instead, Ryoji Nakahata approved of Ishida Yoshihisa, a hidden competitor.

Fang Zhuo listened like this for a while, then leaned back and said, "If you don't want to sell this, you won't sell it. How can Sony get rid of this burden?"

Yoshioka Hiroshi said: "I think it is difficult for the company to achieve any results in the online TV cooperation with Google. This aspect can be let go."

Ryoji Nakabachi nodded: "The three major television networks, ABC, CBS and NBC, have all cut off the functions of Google TV. In fact, the Sony cooperation does not make much sense."

Yoshida Ishida also agreed to put online TV as an option.

Fang Zhuo sighed and reminded: "Sony has reached this point. The more difficult it is, the more cooperation it needs and the need to abandon selfishness."

Network television is what Kazuo Hirai is responsible for.

These three people had obviously guessed who was responsible for the previous burden reduction, and they directly aimed their guns at his businesses.

Ryoharu Nakahachi immediately said: "It's not selfish. Without the three major TV networks, users cannot see high-quality programs such as "The Office", "CSI" and "Modern Family". There are also joint ventures between Disney, NBCUniversal and News Corporation. Video websites have also blocked Google TV. I really don’t see what future it has.”

Fang Zhuo remained silent and said after a while: "Well, I really don't know much about this field. I just want to say that our discussions are all for the development of Sony. We can't change the content just because it offends anyone." Going too far will offend.”

The three of them nodded together, yes, that's it, they would never join forces to kill because of personal emotions.

Fang Zhuo is very pleased. With you like this, why worry about Sony not being able to get out of the quagmire.

He continued to talk about Sony's reform. Kazuo Hirai had some thoughts that were worth listening to. For example, Sony's global real estate, and buildings like New York, if there is any need to hold them now, just clean up and sell them for money.

Just as Sony's future is becoming clearer, WikiLeaks' disclosure of Japanese companies once again contains new content, naming Kobe Steel, one of the world's top 500 companies, for falsifying product data.

Another fraud!

Another area!

Almost at the moment when WikiLeaks just disclosed it, major media outlets reported on Kobe Steel's suspected fraud in a tone that would not accuse it of injustice, and the product supply involved automobiles, railways, aerospace, military industries, etc. important industries.

In half a day, before Kobe Steel could give an official response, the share price of Kobe Steel in the Tokyo stock market had plummeted by 12%, and there were even reports from foreign customers through the media that they would launch a class action lawsuit.

Breaking news, reports, plummets, lawsuits...

After the previous disclosures and confirmations, everyone is very familiar with the response, and the one-stop model is vaguely taking shape. All that is missing is Kobe Steel's tough talk and final bow and acceptance of investigation!