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The boy who cried wolf said something bad would happen, and it did not. Sony says something good will happen, and then it does not. It is the company that cried profits. This makes it hard for it to excite the market by, say, raising its targets. In its worst business – electronics – the problem is even worse. The company can do something radical, and leave the market unmoved. Sony announced in February that it would sell its PC unit. This was unexpected, bold and wise. The market shrugged: the shares’ returns since the announcement match the market’s.
嚷嚷着狼来了的男孩说有坏事发生，结果没有。索尼(Sony)表示会有好事发生，结果也没有。这是一家嚷嚷着会盈利的公司。这让它很难以调高盈利目标的方式振奋市场。而在它最糟糕的业务部门——电子，这个问题更严重。该公司可以做激进的事，可市场仍不为所动。索尼在2月份宣布将出售个人电脑(PC)业务。这是出人意料、大胆和明智的。但市场反应平淡：其股票回报率自宣布消息以来与大盘一致。
On Monday, though, the market showed a little credulity. Sony announced that it would form joint ventures with the China’s Shanghai Oriental Pearl Group to make and sell Sony’s PlayStation game consoles in that country. The gaming business was unprofitable last year, but Sony is a technology leader in gaming and the market has only two real competitors. With the scale the China deal can help to bring, the business could be quite profitable. The shares rose 3 per cent. If the business is right, the market will hold out hopes for Sony Electronics.
然而本周一，市场显示出一些被打动的迹象。索尼宣布将与中国的上海东方明珠集团(Shanghai Oriental Pearl Group)组成合资企业，在中国生产并销售索尼的PS(Play Station)游戏机。去年游戏业务没有盈利，但索尼在游戏领域是技术领先者，而且该市场只有两家真正的竞争者。鉴于这笔中国交易可带来的市场规模，该业务可能有相当的盈利。股价上涨了3%。如果该业务部门把握得当，市场将对索尼电子重燃希望。
Still, the most important thing is the unpopular work of getting out of irredeemably bad businesses. This means televisions first and foremost. At the company’s strategy meeting last week, it was announced that TVs would be moved into a separate unit. Prelude to a full divestment? Sony dismissed the idea, and stuck to its target of a nearly 20 per cent increase in unit sales, and a return to profits, for this year (Sony boss Kazuo Hirai said on Monday that the unit would be profitable even if it missed its unit target). But after a decade of losses, relentless deflation in TV prices despite technological advancements, and Sony’s lack of scale, a better TV business should not be the goal. The goal should be no TV business.
话虽如此，最重要的是退出无可救药的坏业务这项不得人心的工作。这首先意味着电视业务。上周在这家公司的战略会议上，它宣布将电视转移至另一独立部门。此举是要全面剥离的前奏吗？索尼否认了这一观点，并坚持今年达到其近20%的部门销售增长目标和恢复盈利（索尼总裁平井一夫(Kazuo Hirai，见上图)周一表示，即便未达到部门销售目标仍可实现盈利）。然而在10年持续亏损、电视价格无视科技进步而一再无情下跌，以及索尼缺乏规模经营的情况下，一个更好的电视业务不应成为目标。目标应该是没有电视业务。
