Sony Corp is in talks to sell its Japanese PC business to buyout firm Japan Industrial Partners Inc, a person with knowledge of the situation said.
A memorandum of understanding for a sale, which will include the Vaio brand, may be released as early as today, the person said, asking not to be identified before a public announcement.
Sony may announce a wider restructuring that includes job cuts as it considers what to do with its PC operations in the rest of the world, the person said.
Cutting PCs would bolster Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai’s efforts to improve results in the consumer-electronics group, which has struggled with shrinking demand for key products and a consumer shift to tablet computers.
Sony, which reports third-quarter results today, posted second-quarter losses at the unit making PCs, cameras and televisions.
“Selling the PC operation is positive for Sony in the long term,” said Junya Ayada, a Tokyo-based analyst at Daiwa Securities Group Inc. “The PC is being robbed of the consumer market by tablet computers.”
Sony’s PC business could fetch ¥40 billion (US$395 million) to ¥50 billion, the Nikkei Shimbun reported earlier yesterday.
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