SNE - Sony Corporation

Facebook cancels global marketing summit because of COVID-19 concerns

Facebook Inc. is the latest tech company to pull the plug on an event because of COVID-19. "Our priority is the health and safety of our teams, so out of an abundance of caution, we cancelled our Global Marketing Summit due to evolving public health risks related to coronavirus," a Facebook spokesman said in an email to MarketWatch late Friday. The marketing summit was to take place this week in San Francisco. Previously, Facebook dropped out of Mobile World Congress, one of the largest and best-known telecommunications conferences in the world, for the same reason, leading to the show's cancellation. Among other companies to drop out of MWC out of health concerns were AT&T Inc. , Intel Corp. , Sony Corp. , and Amazon.com Inc. [s:AMZN]. Late Friday, International Business Machines Corp. said it was skipping the RSA security conference in San Francisco later this month because of COVID-19.

Buy AMD Stock If You Like Nvidia’s Earnings, Analyst Says

Advanced Micro Devices shares are getting a bump Friday from RBC Capital analyst Mitch Steves, who lifted his price target to a Street-high $66, from $63, citing yesterday’s better-than-expected results from rival Nvidia.

Sony Is Struggling With PlayStation 5 Price Due to Costly Parts

(Bloomberg) -- Scarce components have pushed the manufacturing costs for Sony Corp.’s next PlayStation to around $450 per unit, forcing a difficult price-setting decision in its battle with Microsoft Corp., according to people with knowledge of the matter.The Japanese conglomerate is preparing to gradually replace the six-year-old PS4 console, releasing its PlayStation 5 the same holiday season its archrival debuts the upcoming Xbox Series X. Sony typically finalizes a console’s price in February of the release year, followed by mass production in the spring. With the PS5, the company is taking a wait-and-see approach, said the people, asking not to be named because the details are private.The PS4, released in 2013 at a retail price of $399, was estimated by IHS Markit to cost $381 to manufacture. With the $450 unit cost and a similar gross margin, the PlayStation 5’s retail price would have to be at least $470. That would be a hard sell to consumers, considering Sony’s most expensive machine now is the $399.99 PS4 Pro and is often discounted, according to Macquarie Capital analyst Damian Thong.“Consumers will benchmark their expectations based on the PS4 Pro and PS4,” Thong said. “If Sony prices above that, it would likely be to balance a need to offset higher materials cost, against risk to demand.”Sony declined to comment.The company’s biggest headache is ensuring a reliable supply of DRAM and NAND flash memory, with both in high demand as smartphone makers gear up for fifth-generation devices, according to people familiar with Sony’s operations. Samsung Electronics Co. just announced its Galaxy S20 product range, each variant of which will have 5G and a minimum of 12GB of RAM in the U.S.Videogame companies often sell hardware at thin margins or even at a loss because they profit from lucrative game software and recurring online subscription services. Sony’s Chief Executive Officer Kenichiro Yoshida has said the business should be judged by the number of active users, not the number of hardware units sold. Some Sony games staff think it should sell the new console at a loss if necessary to match Microsoft’s price, while other Sony executives would prefer to make money as the company did with the PS4.“We must keep PlayStation 5’s bill of materials under our control and we need to make the correct number of units in the initial production,” Sony’s Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki said at an earnings briefing earlier this month.Most of the components for the console have been locked down, the people said, including the cooling system, which is unusually expensive at a few dollars per unit. Typically, companies would spend less than a dollar, but Sony opted to lavish more on making sure heat dissipation from the powerful chips housed inside the console isn’t an issue.The ongoing coronavirus outbreak has had no impact so far on preparations for PlayStation 5 production, they said. The company has yet to decided how many PlayStation 5 units it will make in the first year, they added.Separately, Sony plans to release a new version of the PlayStation VR virtual-reality headset, tentatively scheduled after the PlayStation 5 goes on sale, the people said.Sony has already canceled some previously planned features for a new mirrorless camera due this year owing to the constrained DRAM supply, several people with knowledge of the matter said.Sony executives are voicing patience about the next console’s pricing as they anticipate the transition to be a gradual one, said people familiar with its day-to-day operations. Many of the games launched for the PlayStation 5 will also be available to play on the predecessor machine, so revenue from software and related network services is expected to keep the business performance intact. Microsoft and Sony are both expanding their respective online subscription services, revenue from which may allow them greater flexibility on hardware pricing.People within the PlayStation business unit said a key factor in deciding the ultimate PlayStation 5 retail price will be where Microsoft sets its price for the next-generation Xbox Series X. Microsoft is widely expected to hold that information back until the E3 gaming expo in Los Angeles in June.There is pressure from CFO Totoki for Sony to provide more transparency and information in the buildup to the PS5’s release, which has caused some consternation internally. Asked about when he expects Sony to provide guidance on the gaming business outlook for the new fiscal year, Totoki said the plan is no different from the recent past, meaning the guidance can be expected around the end of April.If the company takes longer than usual, analysts may look to its next investor relations meeting to glean hints about the new console’s retail price. The company held that meeting in late May last year.To contact the reporter on this story: Takashi Mochizuki in Tokyo at tmochizuki15@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Edwin Chan at echan273@bloomberg.net, Vlad Savov, Peter ElstromFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

Mobile World Congress show canceled because of coronavirus fears

Mobile World Congress, one of the largest and best-known smartphone conferences, has been canceled out of fears over the coronavirus. John Hoffman, chief executive of show organizer GSMA, said in an email that the outbreak has made it "impossible" to hold the event. Show organizers had begged the host city of Barcelona to pull the plug on the show later this month after at least a dozen tech companies dropped out of the show. AT&T Inc. , Intel Corp. , Nvidia Corp. , Facebook Inc. , Cisco Systems Inc. , Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson , LG Electronics Inc. [s:KR: 066570], Sony Corp. , and Amazon.com Inc. were among those who bowed out. "Due to the outbreak and continued concerns about novel coronavirus, Amazon will withdraw from exhibiting and participating in Mobile World Congress 2020," an Amazon spokesperson told MarketWatch on Monday.

Former Hulu CEO To Become Amazon Video Entertainment Head

Hopkins is all set to join Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) to oversee the company’s Prime Video and Amazon Studios. Mike Hopkins served as  Chairman of Sony Pictures Television, a company owned by the Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE), which he joined in 2017 after working as CEO of Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) owned Hulu for four years.

$229M For Insomniac Games: Sony Reveals Details Of The Deal

The latest financial report submitted by Sony to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reveals that "the consideration for this acquisition of 24,895 million yen (229 million U.S. dollars) was mainly paid in cash.” The report states that Insomniac Games has now become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony. In August 2019, Insomniac Games, the developer of Spider-Man and Ratchet and Clank, had joined Sony PlayStation’s World Wide Studios, which was announced by PlayStation in a tweet. The game studio has been associated with Sony as Spyro The Dragon, one of its earliest games was a PlayStation 1 exclusive.

Amazon names Sony executive to lead entertainment unit

Coronavirus Fears Lead Amazon and Nvidia to Pull Out of Mobile World Congress

Tech companies continue to cancel or curtail their plans for the world’s biggest smartphone conference.

Outlook Brightens for Video Game Stocks

Video game companies have posted mixed quarterly results, but upcoming catalysts could lift these stocks to new highs.

Take-Two Reported Earnings. Why the Stock Is Slumping.

The company’s CEO reassured investors that Sam Houser will remain the leader of its critical Rockstar Games studio after the departure of his brother Dan Houser earlier this week.

Buy Micron Stock to Play Higher Memory-Chip Pricing, Analyst Says

Raymond James’ Chris Caso upped his rating on the memory chip maker to Strong Buy from Market Perform, setting a price target of $70.