What are the opportunities and threats of Sony?

Opportunities

· The company can take advantage of its movie and music business along with its experience in the gaming space to deliver value-added content to support and integrate its product line. It has talked about doing this with a four-screen strategy, which looks like a good concept.

· The company lately bought off its entire Sony Ericson joint venture. This should give Sony the opportunity to act independently and innovate in the booming smartphone and tablet market.

· The company has the opportunity to enter the healthcare-imaging sector in a significant way through a possible acquisition of a 30% stake in Olympus.

· Reorganisation efforts to boost savings

· Focus on BRIC economies helps long term growth

· Partnership with FIFA to enhance corporate value

Threats

· Sony faces price competition from competitors such as Samsung and LG, who are gaining traction with lower-cost products such as televisions and mobile devices.

· If rumors are to be believed, Apple can give a tough time to Sony by introducing its own version of the television, Apple TV. Moreover, Apple is seeing a significant appreciation in its brand value compared to Sony on a global basis, according to Interbrand's Rankings.

· Sony's online network faces threats from hackers. The company's Playstation network was hacked, resulting in leakage of customer information, such as credit-card data.

· Unfavourable foreign exchange rates likely to impact margins

· Impact of the global economic slowdown