Reinventing the Millennium

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

This is a journey to find the future of Sony.

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

However, as long as you become the leader, 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 plummeting of Sony's stock price.

Two days after the weekend, the secondary market finally reacted to Sony's stock price. On Monday and Tuesday, it lost 21% of its market value, evaporating US$8.4 billion.

Throughout the Stringer era, Sony's financial reports were visible, but only to the extent that they could be seen. The market value had been steadily declining. As of the Wikipedia report, Sony's market value was only US$40.2 billion.

This is the result of Stringer's hard work.

For Sony, whose market value exceeded US$120 billion in 2000, the market value of 40.2 billion is not very high. However, everyone did not expect that this number is still too high for Sony today.

In just two days, almost every Olympus fell. This was a shock brought by Sony. Together with Olympus and Takata, it drove the entire Nikkei stock down.

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

This is because Sony suffered a loss of US$1 billion due to a sharp 98% profit drop in 2003. At that time, the Nikkei index high-tech stocks fell one after another. It has been called a "Sony shock", which eventually led to the collapse of its leader Nobuyuki Dei. of stepping down.

After eight years, entering the second decade of the 21st century, Sony has made a comeback, fittingly living up to its name as the next generation.

But this time Sony's shock is not yet complete, because the market value is different from that of 8 years ago, and it is named now because WikiLeaks mentioned that among the three companies, it is the most famous. Many media, institutions, and investors are still waiting and watching. Surplus will inevitably appear in Japanese companies.

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

Although it cherishes the desire to move to a higher position, Sony's current situation is still a thorny problem.

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

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

Based on this situation, Nakahata Ryoji believes that a low-key breakup is the best way. What he hopes most is to take over Stringer's people and get the recommendation of Stringer and Fang Zhuo at the board of directors and shareholders' meeting. Gather the support of confused shareholders to reach the top of Sony.

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

When Fang Zhuo arrived as scheduled, he saw Stringer, Ryoji Nakahachi, Yoshihisa Ishida, and Hiroshi Yoshioka sitting at the table with a tense atmosphere.

He asked casually, a little strangely: "Where is Ihara Katsumi?"

"We had a big argument just now and she went out." Nakabachi Ryoji replied.

"There are quarrels in Tokyo and quarrels in New York. Why doesn't she resign?" Fang Zhuo said in confusion, "She doesn't think that as long as Jazz resigns, everything will be fine, right?"

No one answered this question.

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

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

Stringer, who was about to step down completely, with a no-nonsense attitude, agreed in a short period of time to the plan of Nakabachi, Ishida and other Tokyo executives, and conducted an external audit to thoroughly understand Sony's financial situation.

Under normal circumstances, family scandals should not be publicized, but now the discussion outside is not limited to the figures revealed by Wikipedia. Some say that Sony has a loss of 8 billion US dollars, and some simply think that it has a loss of 10 billion US dollars.

Also, people like Nakabachi and Ishida are also afraid of what kind of thunder Sony is hiding. If they don't find out clearly, it will be a lot of fun if they get in position and encounter an explosion.

Fang Zhuo glanced at the people present, nodded, and said, "Sony really needs an honest talk and some painful measures to reverse the situation."

Stringer began to enter a state of decay, without any movement.

Ryoharu Nakahachi and Yoshihisa Ishida, who still had fighting spirit in their hearts, took the lead in nodding. Hiroshi Yoshioka, who knew that his business was suffering serious losses, thought about this for a while before nodding.

It's painfully honest.

Many times, it is painful to be honest, and if it continues to be painful, it must be quite painful.

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

Yoshihisa Ishida is different. He is responsible for computer entertainment. He also owns PS, a product that maintains a certain market. He speaks relatively toughly.

The two of them, together with Kazuo Hirai and Kunimasa Suzuki, previously had the nickname "Sony Four Musketeers". It is worth mentioning that Kunimasa Suzuki has left Sony due to conflicts 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."

"I just said that we need to 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 senior executives like you can have an overview. How can we do this? Specific thoughts on reform." Fang Zhuo said calmly, "No matter how Sony suffers losses this time, I believe that as long as the reforms are in place, Sony can still recover. 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. 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 leave behind 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 Consider the overall situation.”

Hiroshi Yoshioka had no intention of giving in, and 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 TVs and LCDs that were holding them back, but if he really wanted to say that, he would just cut them 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 clear 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, 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 through quickly and was talking to BOE about the global cycle of the industry in Chinese.

Of 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. Listening to both will lead to enlightenment, and listening to one side will lead to darkness. Yoshioka Hiroshi is right. This kind of design applies to professional fields and technology. Matters in the field really need to be judged by people with technical backgrounds, but we don’t understand. 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 belong to Stringer will be 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.

Ishida Yoshihisa even uses meridians as a metaphor to talk about this aspect.

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 that. 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 exactly what Kazuo Hirai is responsible for.

These three people had obviously guessed whose handiwork the previous burden reduction was, 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, and I really don’t see what future it has.”

Fang Zhuo remained silent for a while, 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 when 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 that they would launch a class action lawsuit through the media.

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!