Sony getting out of flat-panel TV venture with Samsung

TOKYO ? In a bid to streamline its money-losing television business, Sony said Monday it would sell its stake in its flat-panel joint venture with Samsung Electronics, letting go of more of its production capacity at a time when outsourcing has become the norm in the world of manufacturing.

Sony, the Tokyo-based technology and entertainment giant, which makes the Bravia liquid-crystal display televisions, said in a statement that it would sell its nearly 50 percent stake in the jointly owned manufacturer, S-LCD, to Samsung of South Korea for 1.08 trillion won, or $939 million.

Sony's exit from the joint venture, set up in Tanjeong, South Korea, in April 2004, would allow it to switch to less expensive outsourcing options that might allow it to resuscitate its struggling TV business. The only other LCD panels Sony manufactures are at its joint venture with Sharp, in which Sony owns a 7 percent stake.

Cutthroat competition in a peaking market is squeezing margins for TV manufacturers, especially Sony, which analysts have long criticized for high production costs.

Source: http://postbulletin.com/news/stories/display.php?id=1480194

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