Sony has announced it is moving its PlayStation business from Japan to a new company in the United States that will handle the operations of all hardware and network services. The new Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) LLC will be headquartered in California and is a bold move for the gaming unit of the Japanese conglomerate.
Sony is moving its PlayStation business for various reasons. They include combining all operating units, and increasing global efficiency, according to International Business Times.
The move merges two business units. They include Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCE) in Japan and Sony Network Entertainment Interactive (|SNEI) in the U.S.
Sony's new unit will be headquartered in San Mateo, California. Andrew House will serve as SEI's global director.
The two units being merged had different functions. SCE handled the company's hardware, software, and third-party developers, while SNEI was responsible for network services including PlayStation Network (PSN).
Sony President and CEO Kazuo Hirai will serve with House on the SIE board of directors. The new company will launch on April 1.
Sony shared in a statement that SIE will focus on hardware and network services. It has a sales target of $13.5 billion for the fiscal year that ends in March 2018, which is about $2 billion higher than its sales figures for fiscal year 2014.
Shawn Layden is President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America. He said on the PlayStation blog that SIE will focus on developing platforms including PlayStation 4 (PS4) and PlayStation VR, video games, and network services such as PlayStation Vue.
Sony's global headquarters will be in California. However, it will also launch bases in Tokyo and London that will team up with the U.S. branch.
Gaming is still a large part of Sony, and especially after big sales from the last holiday shopping season. The company is still performing better than its rivals Nintendo and Microsoft.
Sony announced that it sold 5.7 million PS4 gaming consoles during the holiday season, according to Fortune. The worldwide total is 35.9 million units since its November 2013 release date, making it the fastest-selling video game system in the company's entire history.