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Sony to Use Robots to Cut Costs and Boost Digital Services: FT

Sony to Use Robots to Cut Costs and Boost Digital Services: FT

Sony Corp. predicts that robots will take over its manufacturing of televisions, smartphones and cameras as the company shifts attention to services, the Financial Times reported.

Unmanned production lines are expected to cut costs by 70% at Sony’s mainstay TV factory in Malaysia by the fiscal year 2023, compared with 2018, the FT cited Kimio Maki, head of Sony’s electronics businesses, as saying in an interview. The acceleration of factory automation will also reduce product defects, he said.

The plan will be carried out in conjunction with an increased focus on online sales and data analysis. Sales data will be analysed using artificial intelligence to more effectively set manufacturing volume, Maki told the FT.

While the company will continue selling hardware and services to consumers, a meaningful part of its growth target would come from products for professional use, such as crystal LED displays for virtual video production and ball-tracking technology for the sports entertainment industry, the newspaper reported.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.