In an unlikely source of information regarding Sony's mistakes and 'financial health,' I just happened channel surf and come across this Jim Cramer "Mad Money" segment on Sony (SNE), as to why it would be a good stock to buy, and possible things it could do to up the stock's value. It was a very original and admittedly fascinating 'take' on what Sony has and hasn't done.

Curiously, although Sony created the problem leading to the largest notebook battery recall in history, Cramer believed that to be some kind of 'blip' that would be forgotten. It was conceded the PS3 was essentially a 'flop' to date and that Blu-ray wasn't anywhere as well Sony hoped. He also noted Sony was "tops" in TVs (backed by research that does show CNet rates 3 Sony TVs in its "Top Ten," which is notable since CNet does tend to evaluate products strictly); at the same time, he did admit Sony has done a lot to attempt to seemingly ruin itself--yet it still makes a great deal more money than other competitors in the same field. The truly astounding prediction was that Sony might break itself up, and in so separating itself into different units, raise its stock price from $45 to $72. While Cramer failed to reveal his source that told him of Sony contemplating such a move (which would fall under a fallacious 'special pleading' case, i.e., someone claiming to have some special knowledge no one else has), he did say such a thing could happen around January 31st, so that would be the date to watch.

Should Sony break itself up? If Cramer is to believed, this would generate even more revenue. However, would it help Sony somehow correct quality shortcomings and otherwise provide it with better product management and oversight in those departments? Cramer offered no insight into these questions, so unless there is some official statement on Jan. 31st and some independent corroboration that such a breakup would help it better manage different sections of its business, we will have to wait and see.

/me wonders whether Kramer is upset about his Sony stock falling in value lately, and wants to bump it up a tad so he can offload it to some gullible people

Well, this was during one of those very extended "Lightning Rounds" (or after it) where he answered one of the users questions about a stock. I only come across him when channel surfing, but in terms of explaining all this about Sony he seemed fairly well-reasoned. I realized he may very well hold some Sony stock, but I was surprised to see a 'non-techie' assessment that acknowledged Sony isn't perfect, because the sad thing is I've seen a surprising number of people act as if it were 'anathema' to point out any Sony shortcomings. So, to hear someone acknowledge the same quality oversights I'd seen (and that person not be into computers/tech), I thought that was particularly rare. I thought it was even more rare to see someone propose this, because I thought that was an incredibly radical proposal. Of course, it would be really weird if there were some kind of breakup announced on 31 Jan. If it happens or if not, we'll see soon enough.

I was j/k

A breakup from existing sony management could only be a good thing.

So far, sony management hasn't understood the world, outside of Japan

I'll just point out that Japan has some very funky stuff ... and the rest of the world should get them in several years

No sweat, debro. I thought you were serious, as Cramer could have very well been recommending the SNE stock and I missed his "disclaimer" on the fact of how much he owned (I only saw the segment about probably 1 minute after it started, so he *could* have made the disclaimer at the start).

The thing that confuses me is how Sony can do so well with its TV line (according to CNet, which I tend to believe from past experience, since they really put a product through the paces), and did so incredibly well with designing and selling the first PS, then following it up with the PS2. Why does Sony seem to have so much trouble not duplicating that same kind of good project oversight and management in other areas (notebook batteries, media, etc)? If the company were a person, I'd have to say it seems partly "schizophrenic," where it's "good" one moment, but then mediocre or the exact opposite of "good" the next. Sony should be able to recruit some of the best around for whichever division it would need people for....

This is a typical trait of companies.
Look at NEC or even Taiyo Yuden.

With Taiyo Yuden though, wouldn't that truly be a "blip" on the radar screen? NEC (in terms of burners) hasn't struck me as being in the same ballpark as Sony. It appears to me that Sony has some divisions (like the TV side) that are well-run, but its CD/DVD media is ok or under-performing, and we all know about the now-famous notebook battery recall. My question is really more along the lines of why it is that if Sony can do the one thing (the TVs) well (which even someone like Jim Cramer notices and CNet supports), why does it seem that there isn't the same kind of quality oversight in other divisions as with their TVs?