Japan’s Sony has decided not to sell its lithium ion battery unit, in a gamble that it can turn the business around with a weak yen and growing demand for smartphone batteries
December 30, 2013 Leave a comment
Updated: Monday December 30, 2013 MYT 10:12:28 AM
Sony to give up on sale of its battery unit
TOKYO: Japan’s Sony Corp has decided not to sell its lithium ion battery unit, media reported, in a gamble that it can turn the business around with a weak yen and growing demand for smartphone batteries.In addition to a weak yen, which can boost overseas earnings, the battery unit is also seeing increased demand for some of its new products, the Nikkei business daily reported.
For the past two years Sony had been planning to offload the unit, which was a pioneer in making lithium ion batteries for computers and mobile devices but has struggled recently against cheaper South Korean rivals.
A government turnaround fund tried to broker a sale of the battery business to aNissan Motor Co Ltd and NEC Corp joint venture earlier this year.
However, talks have stalled and Sony has now told the turnaround fund that it will hold on to the battery unit and develop it as a core business, the Nikkei reported, citing unidentified sources.
Sony, which last year sold its chemical business to the government turnaround fund, is trying to revive the fortunes of its consumer electronics business by focusing on cameras, gaming and mobile devices — Reuters.
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