Sony Corp's plans to quit making personal computers after years of losses focus a spotlight on how it intends to fix a much bigger problem - a flagship TV division that has lost $7.5 billion over the last 10 years.The pullout comes as Japan's electronics firms look for daylight beyond the shadow of industry giants like Apple Inc (AAPL.O> and Samsung Electronics Co. Exiting the Vaio PC business Sony founded 17 years ago will mark the first time Chief Executive Officer Kazuo Hirai pulls a major consumer product line.Still unclear is when Sony can catch up with local peers Panasonic Corp and Sharp Corp on the restructuring track. The pair have swallowed charges, sold off or cured many loss-making businesses, and bounced back to strong profits.Sony is now in talks with Japan Industrial Partners, a Japanese fund that buys up businesses that are being restructured, to take over the Vaio brand's operations in Japan, according to the plan under consideration, a source told Reuters on Wednesday.
Apple Inc. (Apple) designs, manufactures and markets mobile communication and media devices, personal computers, and portable digital music players, and a variety of related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications. Shares of AAPL remained unchanged at $508.79. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $385.10 and as high as $575.14. On average, 12254700 shares of AAPL exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 22088.
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