Sony Computer Entertainment is a separate company than the pictures company. They are wholly owned subsidiaries, and it's not as outlandish as you think.
I know that they're separate companies within the Sony Group, but my point still remains, it's the electronics division of Sony, the costs associated with getting rid of the PC business, and costly pensions that are dragging the company down. Not the other subsidiaries, which includes Sony Pictures.
The PS4 has been a success, for the most part, but the are still bleeding red ink:
http://mmgn.com/ps4/news--ps4-success-but-sony-slumps-disc-media-on-the
Again, Sony Pictures is not hurting Sony. It mostly comes down to Sony's costly electronics business which Sony is trying to revitalize by focusing more on video games (profitable), cameras (profitable), and mobile phones (profitable). It's television division is focusing more on high-end products as opposed to competing in a market that is dominated by Samsung and Visio.
It's no different than when IBM sold the PC company back in 2006 to Lenovo and their x-Server division last year.
Except it's vastly different.
When IBM sold their PC division to Lenovo back in 2005, their PC division lost over $1 billion in a period of three and a half years. Sony Pictures on the other hand, is still profitable. Even though Sony lost $1.3 billion in Q4 2013, Sony Pictures still made a $402 million profit, up 112% a year ago. Revenues were up 30% to $2.6 billion.
IBM's System X server business was shrinking fast and hurting it's bottom line. IBM also wants to get out of the hardware business completely and selling the server division helps that transition. Sony on the other hand, does not want to get out of the film industry and sees it as an important part of the "One Sony" strategy. It's why they resisted pressure from Daniel Loeb to spin Sony Pictures and Sony Music off into a separate Sony Entertainment company.
You can't have a division that churns red ink.
Which is why Hirai is trying to fix the divisions that are churning red. But the Sony Pictures division is churning black ink, not red.
It doesn't matter that the other parts of Sony make a profit.
Except Sony's money problems are mostly irrelevant to Sony Pictures. They've taken a lot of cost cutting measures to reach to profitability. If Sony Pictures sold off things, it would be to help the rest of the company, not help Sony Pictures.
Currently they are no 2 in market share because of TASM2, but Warner Bros will quickly overtake them. Right now it's a two person race between Warner and Disney.
Completely irrelevant. As long as the division is profitable, that's all that matters. What Sony Pictures should be doing is making some more aggressive acquisitions to expand their IP portfolio and create an entertainment company that is more in line with today's industry. Acquiring something like Sumner Redstone's media empire or AMC Networks to get a stronger cable foothold and stronger IP portfolio.
Sony's electronics business would benefit by transforming more into an Apple/Samsung styled company. Not a company stuck in the past.
