Sony and Olympus form alliance The new jointly owned company will focus on new medical equipment Sony has agreed to invest 50bn yen ($640m; £397m) in the embattled camera firm Olympus.The Japanese technology giant will take an 11.5% stake in Olympus in return for the investment.Olympus is still reeling from an accounting scandal where it covered up $1.7bn in losses. The two firms will also set up a company together later this year, which will be 51%-owned by Sony, to work on developing new businesses. As well as cameras, Olympus also makes medical equipment and the new company will focus on "developing a variety of new medical devices that would not be possible by Olympus alone", such as endoscopes used in keyhole surgery. Sony sees the deal as part of its turnaround strategy. It has reported losses for four straight years. "As part of our strategic initiatives announced in April 2012, at Sony we are aggressively pursuing the growth of our medical business, with the aim of developing it into a key pillar of our overall business portfolio," said Sony's chief executive Kazuo Hirai. The deal comes after former Olympus chairman Tsuyoshi Kikukawa pleaded guilty to charges of falsifying accounts, covering up losses of $1.7bn. The scandal was revealed when Michael Woodford, the British former chief executive, was dismissed from his post after he challenged Mr Kikukawa and the board over suspiciously large payments related to acquisitions.
索尼收購奧林巴斯瞄準醫療電子市場 鉅亨網新聞中心(來源:北美新浪)2012-10-1108:43 [ 平井一夫說,索尼的目標是到2020年醫療設備的收入增長至2000億日元(約26億美元),"醫療設備總有一天會成為索尼利潤的重要支柱" ] 尋找新的利潤增長點,上任半年的索尼CEO兼總裁平井一夫將寶押在了醫療電子上。9月28日,索尼與奧林巴斯宣佈建立業務與資本聯盟。索尼將以近500億日元認購奧林巴斯增發的3438.79萬股普通股,持股比例達11.46%,成為奧林巴斯的最大股東。這意味,索尼擊敗松下、富士等多個對手,將全球最大的醫療內窺鏡生商收歸麾下。雙方將於2012年12月成立合資公司,研發、生和銷售應用3D、4K技術的醫療內窺鏡和整體解決方案。新公司由索尼控股51%,奧林巴斯持股49%。這兩個往昔數碼相機領域的競爭對手,還將尋求相機業務的合作,以共同提升競爭力。奧林巴斯向索尼提供鏡頭、鏡室等配件和技術,索尼則向奧林巴斯供應影像感測器。身陷財務醜聞的奧林巴斯將從索尼得到寶貴的財務支持。自有資本比例有望從今年6月底的2.2%,在增發後回升到9%至10%。索尼則獲得了一個戰略轉型的支點。平井一夫說,索尼的目標是到2020年醫療設備的收入增長至2000億日元(約26億美元),"醫療設備總有一天會成為索尼利潤的重要支柱"。帕勒諮詢有限公司資深董事羅清昨天向《第一財經日報》表示,醫療電子業方興未艾,有影像技術優勢的索尼與有醫療設備優勢的奧林巴斯結合,帶來很大的想象空間。繼幾年前松下收購三洋向新能源業轉型之後,索尼此次收購奧林巴斯也是加速業結構調整的重要戰略佈局。哀鴻遍野的日本電子業,內部整合、自救的趨勢日益明顯。作為日本最大的消費電子品出口商,索尼2001~2010年四大部門,只有攝影器材(數字圖像)年年盈利,遊戲機2005~2009年連續五年虧損,移動終端2008、2009年虧損,以彩電為主的家電業務已經連續8年虧損。