Sony who has realised that they cannot survive without partnerships and alliances, is now trying to court a relationship with Samsung days after announcing a TV deal with Google.
Sony who has realised that they cannot survive without partnerships and alliances, is now trying to court a relationship with Samsung days after announcing a TV deal with Google.
This month Sony CEO Howard Stringer and Samsung’s Lee Kun-hee will meet to discuss future alliances, high on the agenda is believed to be a joint standard for 3D TV.
“It’s mainly aimed at Sony rebuilding and consolidating its relationship with Samsung because its strategy of diversifying panel suppliers to the likes of Sharp has failed to ensure smooth supplies,” said Ricky Seo, an analyst at KB Investment & Securities told Reuters.
“It’s like Sony coming back for more cooperation as it needs Samsung to meet its aggressive promotion of TV business, especially to get advanced panels for 3D TV production.” he added.
Last year Sony signed off on a separate venture with Sharp after making $756 million investment to take a one third stake in the Companies TV production by next year.
This reflected Sony’s growing need to secure stable panel supplies to tap a booming flat-screen TV market set to growing 24 percent this year to 180 million units, according to research firm DisplaySearch.
“Sony and Samsung could talk about setting up another LCD production line. But there is an outside chance they could be reviewing the strategic value of their panel ties,” said Koichi Hariya, an analyst at Ichiyoshi Research Institute in Tokyo.
