TrendForce: SONY Suffered 30% Shipment Drop in Three Years, Clearly Struggling

The news that SONY sells its VAIO PC unit is shocking but not surprising. Based on the survey by WitsView, the display division of the global intelligence provider TrendForce, SONY’s NB shipment declined near 35% from 2010 to 2013 with a worldwide market share dipping to below 4% in 2013, indicating its PC unit facing severe obstacles.

SONY VAIO, holding a high-end luxury brand image, is brave enough to innovate and experiment on functions and designs. “SONY, as the most active brand on touch NB development in 2013, projects to reach a touch NB penetration rate as high as 25%, compared to 10% for the entire touch NB market,” WitsView research assistant manager Caroline Chen says. “However, in the market crowded of options for consumers and low prices remain mainstream , the product differentiation needs to take selling prices into account, and SONY’s insistence on the high-end products makes it difficult to expand market share.  

SONY’s NB brand VAIO is still highly valued in the market, and how the new company operates under the alliance with Japan Industrial Partners (JIP) is widely anticipated, which will influence not only VAIO’s future but the entire NB market.

2010-2013 SONY NB Shipment and YoY %


Source: WitsView