HIRAI SEES MUSIC AS KEY PROFIT CENTER FOR SONY CORP.

After hanging with fellow moguls in L.A. during Grammy Week (see photo below), Sony Corp. Chairman Kaz Hirai revealed a restructuring and cash-infusion plan for the troubled giant yesterday in Tokyo. He did not, however, say that music would necessarily be spun off down the line, as certain media reports stated.

Hirai said that Sony would spin off the businesses that include cameras and music players into a separate wholly owned subsidiary, following a similar move last year for its TV business, according to The Wall Street Journal. The company will concurrently focus on its devices, game & network, pictures and music divisions as “the segments that will drive profit growth over the next three years.”

Sony is obviously delighted with the performance of its music divisions, which collectively boosted its worldwide revenues by 13% in Q4 of 2014.

Hirai did acknowledge that he envisions spinoffs of other units. He also said the company would consider a sale of the TV business or the struggling smartphone arm, though he said nothing was currently in the works. “I think we have to keep those possibilities in mind,” he said.