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U.S. Justice Dept. probing Sony unit
Wyeth
Member Posts: 51
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061031/ap_on_bi_ge/japan_us_sony_probe
U.S. Justice Dept. probing Sony unit
By HANS GREIMEL, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 5 minutes ago
TOKYO - Sony said Tuesday the U.S. Department of Justice is probing its electronics unit as part of an industrywide investigation into sales of a particular type of memory chip. The news could spell more trouble for a company already stung by sinking profits, a global battery recall and product delays.
The Japanese company received a subpoena from the Justice Department's antitrust division seeking information about Sony's static random access memory, or SRAM, business, company spokesman Atsuo Omagari said.
"Sony intends to cooperate fully with the DOJ in what appears to be an industrywide inquiry," the company said in a short statement.
The probe could add to a growing list of headaches for Sony.
It has been battered by a worldwide recall of lithium-ion batteries on fears they could overheat and burst into flames. The recall affected almost every major laptop maker in the world, including Dell Inc., Apple Computer Inc. and Lenovo.
Just last week, Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news). said profit plunged 94 percent in the July-Sept. quarter, thanks to a worldwide laptop battery recall and red ink in its video-game business.
It also has lowered its profit forecast for the fiscal year through March 2007 to 80 billion yen ($673 million), down 38 percent from its initial projection and down 35 percent from fiscal 2005.
SRAM is a kind of computer memory that is faster and more reliable that DRAM, or dynamic random access memory. Although it does not need to be refreshed like DRAM, SRAM is also more expensive.
SRAM is found in relatively small quantities in personal computers. It's also used in disk drives, communications equipment and networking gear.
Omagari declined to provide other details about the investigation. But in 2005, Sony sold 3.3 billion yen ($27.7 million) worth of SRAM. The product is made by outside manufactures for Sony, which in turn sells the memory chips to other electronics makers, Omagari said.
He would not elaborate on who manufactures the chips for Sony or to whom Sony sells them.
Earlier this month, U.S.-based chipmaker Cypress Semiconductor Corp. said its SRAM operations were also under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.
A separate DOJ investigation into price-fixing among DRAM companies has so far resulted in more than a dozen charges against individuals and more than $731 million in fines against Samsung Electronics Co., Elpida Memory Inc., Infineon Technologies AG and Hynix Semiconductor Inc.
Problems with its long-awaited next-generation PlayStation 3 console have also dug deep.
Sony reported a 43.5 billion yen ($366 million) operating loss in its gaming division in the July-September quarter because of charges related to its development.
Sony said last month the machine's launch in Europe will be delayed until March next year because of mass production problems in a video technology called Blu-ray disk that the machine supports. The PlayStation 3 is set to go on sale in the U.S. and Japan next month.
The company also reduced the PS3 price in Japan by about 20 percent in an effort to win buyers a move that's likely to reduce sales revenue because initial shipments are expected to be limited and sell out.
The company announced the probe after the market closed. Sony shares, which have fallen about 15 percent since May, finished up 10 yen, or 0.2 percent, at 4,850 yen ($40.75) on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
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Wyeth - Chilastra 8/30/03-6/1/05 Master Artisan, Master Weaponsmith, Master Shipwright (after giving up Weaponsmith), Master Merchant
Zadox - Chilastra 12/1/03-6/3/05 Master Rifleman, Master Scout, Master Ranger.
Comments
/Captain Renault mode on
I am SHOCKED, SHOCKED!
/Captain Renault mode off
I'm definitely buying a PS3 now. It's gonna be a freakin' collectors item if Sony folds
Unaware of the Jestor?
http://about.me/JestorRodo/
Friends enjoy his classic Vblog - https://www.facebook.com/GoodOldReliableNathan
1. Billion dollars worth of recalled exploding batteries
2. PS/3 that is late, overpriced, that they will lose hundreds per unit sold on
3. Betamax on a disc, aka Blue-Ray
4. The music and movie industries being in a slump
5. Being last to 1080p HDTV, sticking with obsolete technology
6. SOE losing half their subscribers (or more) in EQ, EQ2, and SWG, while maintinaing more games than ever
Yeah, that all adds up to bigtime problems.
Adding in a price fixing investigation into their memory division, the bad pub and inevitable multimillion dollar fines doesn't help much.
In the word of Blazinblade:
Bring it down now!
Or sumfin like that haha.
LAMO. Word Up cowboy, you do know that is protected by copy right laws. Bring it on down now.
Damn byotch dat aint no friggn moon fool, dat be a friggn space station byotch.
LAMO. Word Up cowboy, you do know that is protected by copy right laws. Bring it on down now.
What the hell does that even mean?
----------
"Anyone posting on this forum is not an average user, and there for any opinions about the game are going to be overly critical compared to an average users opinions." - Me
"No, your wrong.." - Random user #123
"Hello person posting on a site specifically for MMO's in a thread on a sub forum specifically for a particular game talking about meta features and making comparisons to other titles in the genre, and their meta features.
How are you?" -Me
But seriously, woohooooo for part of Sony being investigated, its the same as WalMart when they have been investigated hundreds of times, same for Home Depot, Exxon, Ford, GM, Toyota, Virtually every oil company, actually almost every single large corporation, has been investigated and or is being investigated at this time. So what. Bring it on down now.
Damn byotch dat aint no friggn moon fool, dat be a friggn space station byotch.
"1. Billion dollars worth of recalled exploding batteries
2. PS/3 that is late, overpriced, that they will lose hundreds per unit sold on
3. Betamax on a disc, aka Blue-Ray
4. The music and movie industries being in a slump
5. Being last to 1080p HDTV, sticking with obsolete technology
6. SOE losing half their subscribers (or more) in EQ, EQ2, and SWG, while maintinaing more games than ever"
You forgot a few things there...
They are still facing lawsuits from multiple states over the rootkit deal.
They have recently lost several appeals on patent violations and been fined/ordered to pay various settlements.
They are also going to be facing lawsuits from the people who were burned by the exploding batteries...
Those things add up. I don't want to see Sony go away... Mostly because a lot of people have and probably will lose their jobs. People that weren't part of anything that upset consumers.. but just people that needed a job.
It just seems to me.. they don't have very good management in that company.
...
Anyway to the poster listing all the various companies that are or have been investigated. That is very true...
It really depends on what they are being investigate for... and obviously what if anything they did. However, the feds had no problem taking Microsoft into court for years on what I personally thought was a waste of tax payer money.
It obviously costs microsoft a tad bit of change to defend their company in court.
So it really doesn't matter what happens to Sony in the long run... If they are brought into court its just going to add to their financial problems.
Obviously enough of those things.. add up.. and make it that much harder to recover. Especially when your company was in the middle of restructuring to try and become a profit making company again. All these added expenses do not help.
*I edited this because apparently I didn't sleep much and I couldn't understand half of what I wrote*
I look back over the years at the amount of large corporations who have had problems, its surprising the large number of them that there have been, but virtually 96 percent have bounced back and become profitable. In comparisons to many of those companies Sony is not in bad shape. Sony will come out of this just fine. Plus I dont relish in the ideas that people would lose their jobs and their ability to provide for their families, it would not be just Sony employees that would lose work, it would trickle down into other companies in other industries who would also lose their jobs, Sony is involved in a lot of other industries other then Electronics and gaming. I would really hate to imagine what would happen to someone who would say, I am really glade Sony closed their doors, they deserved it, they changed my video game. Bring it on down now.
Damn byotch dat aint no friggn moon fool, dat be a friggn space station byotch.
"Your dividends, sir ..."
Round up the usual suspects
Support Bacteria, its the only culture some people have.
I beleive in natual selection some companies must die for better companies to take their place. Sad for the person loseing their job yes, but good in the long run for society. I think its nice that people thought about the little guy, but its a reality of capitalism companies must die. Better the companies that behave in a proper manner survive rather then the companies that engage in bad behavior.
That being said never ever assume a company is too big to die, or that it is extremely hard for it to happen. For every big company that worked its way back out there is another big company that finally fell through. Sure governments stick their fingers where they do not belong, but a company that lives off hand outs isn't really alive the airline industry lives off of public assistance.
I think it is just a dangerous perception. The same bad idea that things will stay as they are. History is filled with alot of dead people who thought exactly like that. I get the fealing that its like the twenties all over again people just refuse to beleive that really bad things can happen. The same way people thought about terrorism before 9/11. Smart people were not really shocked. They were under no illusion that it could happen, and that there was a good chance it would. People who lacked imagination were totally blown away.
Will Sony go down in flames. Who can tell, but every reversal increases the chances that it will, and if Sony piles up enough of them yeah they could be in line for some rough times.
I love it how Blazin picks this number seemgingly out of thin air. Not a flame blazin, I reallly did LOL (in a good way).
It was practically 97.3% hilarious!
SWG Team Mtg.
Round up the usual suspects
The NGE kiddies I doubt have any idea what movie that was, or who was in it
I love it how Blazin picks this number seemgingly out of thin air. Not a flame blazin, I reallly did LOL (in a good way).
It was practically 97.3% hilarious!
What's that quote in Madden Football? 100% of the game of football is half mental?
I realize I said I quit. I never said it was forever
Round up the usual suspects
The NGE kiddies I doubt have any idea what movie that was, or who was in it
Wow, how old are you guys? I'm 30 and would think it's unusual that a person my age would even recognise those quotes (I'm the only person in peer group who watches movies from that era).
Round up the usual suspects
The NGE kiddies I doubt have any idea what movie that was, or who was in it
Wow, how old are you guys? I'm 30 and would think it's unusual that a person my age would even recognise those quotes (I'm the only person in peer group who watches movies from that era).
34. And I love classic movies. I have a collection of over 50 John Wayne movies too.
Buy a few and then don't get any games. That way, not only is it a collector's item, it'll have helped cause Sony to fold. So, it'll be the thing that made it a collector's item.
A** Still Raw From Your Last SWG Subscription? Come join us at RLMMO.com
The highlight of the entire movie.....
So'fe Sose, Naritus, SWG- Forcibly Retired
Friends don't let friends SWG...
*****
Any form of bad news for $ony is good news to me!
Even better below, yahoo! Is it Christmas!
"No, but when you add all these things together:
1. Billion dollars worth of recalled exploding batteries
2. PS/3 that is late, overpriced, that they will lose hundreds per unit sold on
3. Betamax on a disc, aka Blue-Ray
4. The music and movie industries being in a slump
5. Being last to 1080p HDTV, sticking with obsolete technology
6. SOE losing half their subscribers (or more) in EQ, EQ2, and SWG, while maintinaing more games than ever
Yeah, that all adds up to bigtime problems.
Adding in a price fixing investigation into their memory division, the bad pub and inevitable multimillion dollar fines doesn't help much."
1. bring sony down
2. good to see jestor back!!!!!!