Sony slides to 4-month low

The 5 per cent target had originally been set by CEO Howard Stringer in 2005 for the business year to March 2008. It narrowly missed the target that year before falling into the red on the economic slowdown and tough competition.

Market players remain sceptical whether Sony can achieve its goal of turning its video game and TV operations profitable next year as it struggles to compete with overseas rivals such as South Korea8217;s Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.

8220;What we8217;re seeing is a weakening of Sony8217;s brand power. That8217;s especially clear in North America where its market share has fallen sharply. The situation is so bad it almost makes me want to cover my eyes,8221; said Chibagin Asset Management8217;s advisor Fujio Ando.

8220;They no longer have products that are unique and can control the market,8221; he said.

Shares of Sony were down 2.2 per cent at 2,415 yen after earlier hitting 2,375 yen,their lowest since July 29. The benchmark Nikkei average was down 0.7 per cent.

Sony said it was aiming for a 20 per cent share in the global LCD TV market in unit terms in the year to March 2013. That compares with the 8.7 per cent share it held in July-September,according to data from research firm DisplaySearch.

In an effort to improve profits at its TV operations,Sony plans to have 40 per cent of its LCD TVs assembled by outside manufacturers in the next business year starting April 2010,up from 20 per cent this year.