Customers who regularly purchase smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, TVs, cameras and home theater equipment from Sony's online store will only have less than a month before they can buy all the gadgets they want from the website.
Sony has announced that its online store, found on store.sony.com, will close up shop starting Aug. 28. Until then, customers can still purchase any device they want from the Japanese electronics maker before the store officially winds down at 4 p.m. Eastern Time or 1 p.m. Pacific Time on that day.
The announcement was made in an email sent to all Sony store customers, but the company did not provide a clear reason as to why it was closing down its online store. Sony, however, did say that it will "soon unveil a new online product showcase and more ways to shop," which does not really say much at all.
Despite the positive reviews for Sony's Xperia devices, the company has failed to reach a wider audience in the U.S. compared to Apple and Samsung's markets. One possible reason for this could be Sony's preference for selling direct to consumers instead of going through the wireless carriers as middlemen, which is the dominant smartphone sales model in the country.
It seems, however, that Sony's mobile sales strategy is not working very well, as its latest quarterly earnings call shows, while revenue for its other businesses have taken an upward turn, its mobile business consisting of smartphones and tablets has taken a revenue dip by 16.3 percent to 270.5 billion yen, or around $2.27 billion.
Also part of the problem is the lack of brand awareness surrounding many of Sony's products. For instance, Sony makes excellent camera sensors, and its rivals in the smartphone industry agree, as these sensors are found everywhere from Apple's iPhones to Samsung's Galaxy smartphones. However, most people don't know that they are shooting selfies and food pics using a camera made by Sony.
Sony says it will be refocusing its efforts on select few devices that it deems profitable, while making deep cuts in manpower and asset sales to compensate for the loss of finances caused by its smartphone business. In the future, Sony could also launch new product lines, particularly products using drone technology, as well as a crowdfunding platform to jumpstart businesses.
