Sony is reportedly in talks to sell its PC business

Sony's had much more success in gaming and home entertainment than with its PC division, so the latest news isn't exactly shocking. According to Japanese news service Nikkei, the company is looking to sell its personal computer business to an investment fund for as much as 50 billion yen (or $492 million). When we reached out to Sony for comment, a rep directed us to a statement responding to a similar rumor three days ago:

A press report on February 1, 2014 stated that Sony Corporation ("Sony") is discussing with Lenovo Group ("Lenovo") the possible establishment of a joint venture for the PC business. As Sony has announced previously, Sony continues to address various options for the PC business, but the press report on a possible PC business alliance between Sony and Lenovo is inaccurate.

While that doesn't address this latest report specifically, the statement makes it clear that selling off Sony's PC business isn't out of the question, if not extremely likely. And as Nikkei reports, parting with this division would enable Sony to shift its focus to smartphones -- the company has released several critically acclaimed Xperia handsets in the last several years, though it still struggles to compete with the likes of Samsung, the top Android phone maker by a landslide. In any case, stay tuned.

Bloomberg reports it's also hearing rumors Sony will sell it's PC business, and claims that an announcement could come as soon as tomorrow. For its part, Sony has released another statement addressing these latest rumors, saying it "continues to address various options," but for now it has no comments and has not released any announcements.


SOURCE