admin Sony Group plans to spend 2 trillion yen ($18 billion) during the next three years to secure a dominant position as a gaming and anime provider and to expand its sensor business.
Expansion Strategy
Sony expects to make 2 trillion yen or more in strategic investments through March 2024, according to its midterm business plan. That represents an increase of more than 40% compared to the past three years. The investments will be funded by 3.1 trillion yen in consolidated operating cash flow that the group, excluding its financial services segment, expects to generate during the same period. It also plans to increase capital expenditure by 25% to 1.5 trillion yen.
Sony’s gaming and anime business is supported by a strong intellectual property portfolio, which includes the “Demon Slayer” anime movie that has smashed box office records in Japan and the U.S.The company intends to leverage its IP by developing a game based on Demon Slayer and by making movies and TV Shows that are based on games. It is already working on an “Uncharted” movie based on the popular PlayStation game franchise.
Exciting Undertakings Ahead
Jim Ryan, president and CEO of gaming unit Sony Interactive Entertainment said 10 projects are currently in development.Sony will also spend more to lure subscribers to its gaming services as well as to its anime and music platforms.In addition, its entertainment subsidiaries will be expected to deepen their cooperation and collaborate more with outside partners.”Sony is directly connected to about 160 million people in the world due to their desire to consume entertainment,” Yoshida said. “I want to expand this number to 1 billion.”
During the past few years, Sony has become more acquisitive. Last year, it announced plans to acquire U.S. anime streaming service Crunchyroll for $1.2 billion. In April, it revealed plans to purchase Brazilian independent music company SomLivre. Earlier this month it completed the acquisition of London-based indie music distributor AWAL.It is likely that Sony will continue its aggressive acquisitions of entertainment-related businesses in a bid to broaden its user base.Yoshida also spoke of Sony’s “big” potential to grow its user base in India. Sony offers a direct-to-consumer video service in the country called SonyLIV, which focuses on the local culture. It has increased its paying subscribers to about 5.6 million, by about eight times in the twelve months through this April.
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