Well it is now official as Sony has announced that it will be parting ways with its VAIO line. The brand will be sold to investment firm Japan Industrial Partners, with the deal set to be finalized by March 2014.
Sony’s VAIO line has always been associated with high-end notebooks and has had some pretty memorable designs over the past few years. A decline in PC sales is said to be the main reason for Sony to sell off the VAIO line. Sony has stated that they are no longer designing and developing products in the VAIO line and that manufacturing and sales will wind down after the latest batch of notebooks go out globally. Sony said that they will be focusing on imaging, gaming and mobile going forward.
In 2013 Sony saw a net loss of $1.1 billion, that is on a $296 million profit. Most of this deficit is said to be caused by the TV and notebook divisions. While the TV division is expected to see a boost with 4K TV’s it was decided that the notebook line isn’t worth it anymore.
With this sale by Sony they will be laying off 5,000 employees, of which 1,500 will be from Sony’s Japan offices. The investment firm that purchased the VAIO line said that they will be hiring 250 to 300 Sony employees.
Source: Sony | News Archive
