Sony: Vaio Sales Rise Despite Pricing Pressure In U.S.

The global electronics company, which produces everything from PlayStation2 to music CDs to motion pictures, in addition to Vaios and other computer peripherals, last week reported disappointing earnings for its quarter that ended Sept. 30.

For the period, Sony reported sales of $16.1 billion and a profit of 32 cents per share. Revenue was essentially flat compared with the same quarter in 2002, while profit declined by 25.5 percent on a year-to-year basis.

Its electronics business was among the best-performing, Sony said. On a worldwide basis, revenue in the company's electronics unit dropped by 1.4 percent, to $10.9 billion, compared with the same quarter a year earlier, but its operating income increased by 36.2 percent, Sony said.

That number combines results of a number of different Sony properties, including its Vaios where, the company said in a statement, "sales of high value-added models contributed to improved operating performance."

Takao Yuhara, Sony's corporate senior vice president and group CFO, told analysts during a conference call that the segment was "getting better."

Earlier this year, U.S. Sony executives said they would work on the company's commercial reseller sales channel, in part to improve its Vaio and digital equipment sales in the corporate space.

While some solution providers say they have seen noteworthy improvements in product availability through distribution, there remain lingering issues over Sony's corporate vs. consumer sales, as well as its efforts to fully engage solution providers.

"On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being very aggressive and 1 [means they are] not doing anything, they're at a 2," said Dalin Antwiler, co-owner of Trinity Imaging, an Independence, Mo.-based solution provider. Antwiler said his company signed up for Sony's reseller program a year ago in hopes of increasing its Vaio business, but added, "I haven't heard from Sony one time since I signed up."

Michael Abary, director of product management for Sony's Mobile PC Group, said Sony was working to differentiate its Vaio consumer notebooks from commercial models to help minimize conflict.

"I believe there will always exist a degree of conflict between these channels that will be a challenge for any PC vendor to address," Abary said. He added, however, that Sony aims to roll out a new Web-based information portal by January to address solution provider concerns.