An activist investor with a keen interest in Sony’s image sensor business has increased his stake in the company and upped the pressure on them to spin off their aforementioned division into its own firm.
It’s not like any of this is unexpected news. Just last June 2019 Daniel Loeb wrote in an open letter that, “Sony’s semiconductor business is dramatically underappreciated by the market despite its position as the global leader in image sensors with over 70% revenue market share of the smartphone image sensor market. Contributing only 18% of Sony’s consolidated earnings, this division is often treated by investors as an afterthought despite its status as one of Japan’s leading technology companies.”
What is different is that Loeb is using the currently low prices on the stock market to scoop up Sony’s stock.
Sony wasn’t open to the idea then but they might be having different thoughts now. Then again, they might not be. As PetaPixel highlights, Loeb also wanted the company to spin off its camera business way back when and that didn’t happen.
Now Sony’s cameras are a major force in the market. The idea then and now is that Sony could use the money from such a move in order to strengthen its Entertainment division but that seems to be firing on all cylinders with the market-dominance of the PlayStation 4 video games console.
As with everything, we’ll see how this plays out.
What do you think? Does a company like Sony Technologies make sense? Let us know your thoughts on this story in the comments section below if you like.
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