Sony Corp. chairperson Howard Stringer said on Monday the electronics giant was keeping up its long-term global ambitions despite taking a "very, very strong" hit in the global financial crisis.
The iconic Japanese firm last week slashed its net profit forecast for the year to March by more than half, blaming a soaring yen, intense competition and a global financial crisis that has sapped demand.
"We are a very strong export business in Japan. Most of our business comes from exports, over 80 percent," Stringer, Sony's first foreign chief, told a business forum in Tokyo.
"So the impact on us is always going to be very, very strong. There is no hiding that," he said.
Stringer said, however, that the global crisis could provide Sony opportunities to seek out acquisitions, reorganise or to seek out talent from other firms.
"Those who say crisis is an opportunity are usually right," he said.
Sony could use the crisis as "an opportunity to make things more smooth and streamlined and more effective," he said, adding that Sony would maintain its long-term business goals for now.
Stringer said Sony was continuing to boost digital networking functions of its products including its games, hoping for an area to challenge US rivals Intel, Microsoft and Apple.
Sony, which changed the way the world listened to music with the Walkman, faced widespread criticism for failing to produce gadgets to rival Apple's hugely successful iPod.
Sony is also enjoying a strong brand image and expanding presence in emerging markets, particularly Brazil, Russia, India and China, he said.
Stringer also predicted strong growth for "at least the next five to 10 years" from sales of next-generation Blu-ray DVDs and players.
Blu-ray fended off a challenge from rival Toshiba Corp.'s HD DVD to be the next standard in DVDs, although some technology pundits say it is only a matter of time before consumers turn off on DVDs altogether.
"I understand there is digital downloads. But if you are talking about full, high-definition, high-quality programming, that's not going to come from digital downloading to most homes any time soon," Stringer said.
Stronger Yen
Sony is one of many Japanese firms hurting from the appreciation of the yen, which has jumped to a 13-year high against the dollar.
Canon Inc., long one of Japan's most profitable companies, said on Monday its net profit would fall for the first time in nine years due in part to the strong yen. It slashed its net profit forecast for the year by 25 percent.
"The high yen keeps getting higher. But at some point, the yen will come back because it doesn't make sense over the long haul for the yen to be that high," Stringer said.
"Of the shortfall that caused us to revise our forecast, 75 percent of it is directly related to foreign exchange and stock markets," he said.
Tom Enders, chief executive of European aviation giant Airbus Industrie, told the same forum that both government and business leaders shared blame for the financial crisis.
"This downturn is not just a result of a financial crisis. It is a result of lack of anticipation, lack of transparency," he said.
"You could also call it 'leadership crisis'" he said.
Andrew Liveris, head of the Dow Chemical Co., said the crisis would have "lasting consequences," with market players diversifying their positions and growing regulation in the United States.
"I think risk will be defined and priced in a very different way than it was priced in the past seven or eight years," Liveris said.
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