Sony under pressure to turn off the TV

FORTY YEARS AGO the Trinitron TV propelled Sony to the top flight of electronics manufacturers - a position it sought to reinforce back in 2006 when it signed up as a global sponsor with FIFA. Now the company is facing calls to walk away from TV manufacturing having suffered eight straight years of losses. New flat screen technology and nimble rivals Samsung and LG from South Korea have left the Japanese giant struggling and starting to ask whether it should continue to produce televisions at all. The position has not been helped by a strong Yen making its products uncompetitive and new digital technology have turn screen production into a commodity business making price the only real differentiator. Recent innovations like 3D have not taken off as quickly as Sony would have liked leading the company to think the almost unthinkable.