Flat-panel TVs, a music player with robotics technology and planned networking services for the PlayStation 3 video game console are a key part of Sony’s growth following a nearly three-year restructuring effort, Chief Executive Howard Stringer said Tuesday.
Such products “bring back some of the wow factor” and show the electronics and entertainment company has recovered from its past financial problems, Stringer told reporters at Sony’s Tokyo headquarters.
“The next cycle is actual innovation,” he said.
Sony’s network service, now used to pipe video games to the PlayStation 3, will be expanded to offer other kinds of content. He did not give details or a timetable.
Besides its core electronics business, Sony owns the Hollywood movie studio that made the “Spider-Man” series. Sony also has a joint venture in music with Bertelsmann AG that has Bruce Springsteen, Justin Timberlake and Beyonce Knowles under its labels.
Such entertainment content will likely be offered as downloads for the PlayStation 3 in Sony’s effort to catch up with U.S. companies like Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp.
When Stringer took the helm at Sony in 2005, the company — once a symbol of innovation with its Walkman line of personal stereos — had been stumbling, falling behind in flat-panel TVs and digital music players.
The turnaround plan that Stringer engineered — which included massive job cuts, plant closures and dropping unprofitable businesses — will be completed in March next year.
The company has sold off part of its stake in its financial unit, which had a bank and insurer. Sony also has sold to Toshiba Corp. its advanced computer chip operations for making the PlayStation 3’s “Cell” microprocessor.
On Tuesday, Stringer talked proudly about its latest TV technology and its robotic music player, dubbed Rolly.
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