Sony might be looking to exit the PC business and it won’t be Lenovo who’s absorbing the divison as previously reported.
Following last month’s news that a ratings firm have downgraded Sony’s credit value to “junk” status, a report on Nikkei claims Sony is in talks to sell it’s money-draining PC division to Japanese investment fund, Japan Industrial Partners, and concentrate its focus on smartphones. The investment company is said to establish a new entity that would take over Sony’s entire PC division, with the sale price estimated to be 40 billion to 50 billion Yen ($391 million to $489 million).
Contrary to previous reports, Lenovo won’t be the buyer of Sony’s Vaio business. “A press report on February 1, 2014, stated that Sony … is discussing with Lenovo Group the possible establishment of a joint venture for the PC business. As Sony has announced previously, Sony continues to address various options for the PC business, but the press report on a possible PC business alliance between Sony and Lenovo is inaccurate,” Sony said in a statement.
If the buyout is true, the new company “would continue to sell PCs under the Vaio brand and also handle after-sales service,” with Sony only taking a small stake in the firm, the Nikkei report states.
We’ll update the story once further developments arises.
