Sony plans to retain a stake of around 20 percent in the financial unit, which includes a bank and a life insurance firm, after the listing, the group's president,
The announcement comes as Sony is faced with increasing competition from companies like
"We are going to need an unprecedented amount of investment for medium- and long-term growth," Totoki said at the press conference, adding it will allocate more resources to its entertainment and image sensor operations, its key growth drivers.
"Many of the rivals we are competing with are extremely large global companies," Totoki said. "As we grow bigger, we have to raise the level of our investment accordingly," he said, adding mergers and acquisitions are an option for further growth.
Sony, which also makes TVs and digital cameras, earns more than half of its operating profit from its entertainment business which spans from PlayStation 5 game consoles to Spider-Man films.
Entertainment is one of the fastest-growing sectors, with companies such as
Under the new strategy, Sony said it will ramp up entertainment operations in
Sony's chip business, which has a large market share in image sensor components used in smartphone cameras, is also becoming increasingly important as demand booms for chips to be used in high-performance phones and the automotive sector.
The group last month reported a record operating profit of
==Kyodo
© Kyodo News International, Inc., source