Today we held the "Corporate Strategy Meeting 2023" at the 2^nd floor Convention Hall of Sony headquarters in Tokyo, where I delivered a speech together with Hiroki Totoki, President, COO and CFO. As with last year, it was held as a hybrid live and online event, with around 130 people including journalists, investors and analysts attending in person. This year we also provided demonstrations of some of our latest technologies and services at the venue for attendees to experience.

The speech materials, presentation slides and recorded webcast from the event are available here, so please take the opportunity to look through them.

■ Commitment to Creativity
At this year's Corporate Strategy Meeting, I first touched on how Sony has expanded its business from a long-term perspective, from its origins of sound. Then, as examples of initiatives taken in recent years, I explained our recent efforts to reorganize our group architecture, focus on creativity, and expand the Kando space. In this blog, I would like to look back at the event, and in particular how we are strengthening creativity.

Sony has expanded its business from a long-term perspective, with sound as its origin	The life insurance business that started in 1979 is a symbol of Sony's long-term perspective. It is a business that Akio Morita, one of our founders, started with a vision of 20 years.

At Sony we are committed to creativity, and our business is centered around creation. As such, we aim to become the brand chosen by creators around the world who create Kando. In my presentation, I introduced examples of how we are strengthening our creativity in each area, including content, products and semiconductors. Sony's commitment to strengthening creation is a competitive strategy to lead us to growth. Furthermore, collaboration with partners is important in delivering the Kando content developed by creators to even more people, and "filling the world with emotion."

Investment totaling approximately 1 trillion yen over five years in strengthening content IP and enhancing Kando creation	The television adaptation of the PlayStation game "The Last of Us" became one of the most-watched drama series for our partner HBO Max in Europe and Latin America
Group collaboration in content IP has become more active, leading to the strengthening of creativity	DTC anime service Crunchyroll, which joined Sony in 2021, feeds back user viewing data to creators

Technology is also essential in the pursuit of creation. We are strengthening creation through products and services such as our "VENICE" digital cinema cameras, Alpha^TM, and Virtual Production. These are all made possible by CMOS image sensors, which I call "creation semiconductors" that create Kando."

"VENICE" cameras were used to film last year's "Avatar: The Way of Water" as well as "Gran Turismo," scheduled for release this year	Virtual Production supports new creative expression through technology
"Creation semiconductors" that create Kando

In a previous blog I wrote about the contribution of our "Alpha 1" full-frame mirrorless single-lens camera to Qatar. And Sony's CMOS image sensors are bringing the joy of creation to smartphone users around the world. We will continue to focus on key devices that support creation.

After initiatives to strengthen creativity, I introduced our efforts to expand the field of Kando from real space into virtual space and mobility space.	In the mobility space, we are contributing to the evolution of mobility in areas such as imaging and sensing technologies, entertainment, as well as communications and networks including 5G.

■ India, a place of creativity
In my presentation, I also focused on India as an example of how we are expanding our business, and was joined by N.P. Singh, CEO of Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI), on stage. I consider India to be a key growth market for the entertainment business.

For approximately 30 years since the establishment of Sony India, which leads the electronics business, Sony has been delivering Kando in India. Today, we do this not only through our products but also across a wide range of other businesses, including Sony Music Entertainment India, which has more than 20% market share in India, and SPNI, which delivers Kando content through its media networks and DTC service.

Looking towards future growth, we also hope to expand creations rooted in local culture through the merger of SPNI and Zee Entertainment.

Totoki-san then took the stage to share the progress of our 4^th mid-range plan and speak on growth strategies for each business, as well as the evolution of our diversity.

Progress of the 4th mid-range plan. Three-year cumulative adjusted EBITDA period is projected to be 5 trillion yen, an increase of 16% from our target
Maximizing value by deepening IP deployment across the three entertainment segments. Leading examples are the visualization of game IP and accelerating the growth of anime	Leveraging the wealth of IP we possess within the Sony Group in location based entertainment

■ Growth Strategy for Financial Services business

Within his overview of the growth strategies for each business, Totoki-san explained that we have decided to explore a partial spin-off of the Financial Services business to achieve further growth. This partial spin-off would not change the names and brands of each SFG company, or their position within the Sony Group.

Our Financial Services business, that helps people achieve their peace of mind and dreams, is representative of our long-term approach to business management, and is a vitally important business for the Sony Group. We have established strong trust among our customers, and it is a business with significant growth potential, but in order to realize this we must further reinforce our branding, leverage the Sony Group's infrastructure, and invest in growth. So that we can fully implement these measures and connect them to growth, we reached the conclusion that a partial spin-off based on the premise of the listing of the shares of Sony Financial Group Inc. would be the most effective path forward. We will proceed to assess this option together with the management team across our SFG businesses.

■ Diversity of People and Businesses

In a previous blog, I wrote that Sony's diversity is a value that Morita-san instilled in the company, and entrusted to us, to build on his legacy. In his speech, Totoki-san expressed his wish to see diverse individuals share their knowledge and activities beyond boundaries, evolve our business diversity, and connect organically to further grow and enhance the long-term value of the Sony Group. Let's strive for growth by leveraging and evolving the strength of our diversity that we have nurtured and instilled at Sony over many years.

Aiming to make Sony a place where people of diverse backgrounds can gather, leading to the growth of each individual as well as the company	Diverse individuals sharing their knowledge and activities will evolve our business diversity and lead to further growth

As always, I look forward to receiving your feedback.