Sony Creates Drone Company to Find More Enterprise Customers for Its Image Sensors

Sony is getting into the drone business - but not for the reasons you might think.

The company’s mobile division is teaming up with Japanese robotics firm ZMP to found Aerosense: a new venture that will offer drone-based surveying and inspection services to businesses from 2016 onwards.

According to a press release (see below), ZMP will bring its “automated driving and robotics technologies” to the project while Sony will offer its imaging and telecommunications expertise - “We’re looking to explore new opportunities beyond our core consumer portfolio in enterprise markets.”

Hiroki Totoki, the head of Sony’s smartphone division, told The Wall Street Journal “The key to driving growth in these areas will be adapting Sony’s innovation in various technologies.”

Hiroki Totoki, the head of Sony’s smartphone division

“We’re looking to explore new opportunities beyond our core consumer portfolio in enterprise markets”Hiroki Totoki, head of Sony’s smartphone division

Essentially, this means leveraging Sony’s successful image sensors.

This profitable division of the company supplies components to a wide range of industries including, notably, the smartphone market, where Sony’s own devices have failed, but its sensors are used by rivals including Apple and Samsung.

Starting a drone subsidiary to demonstrate new uses for its imaging tech makes more sense for Sony than trying to compete directly with well-established industry giants like Lockheed Martin or DJI.

Tech giants like Google and Amazon are also involved in the market, and have been pouring money and expertise into various fields from package delivery to internet access.

Sony might not be able to compete directly with these companies, but if the industry takes off as analysts have predicted, all those aircrafts will need components to see with, and that’s where the Japanese company might have an edge.

Source: The Verge

Press Release

Sony Mobile and ZMP to Establish Joint Venture for Developing and Providing Enterprise Solutions that Utilize Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Tokyo, Japan – Sony Mobile Communications Inc. (“Sony Mobile”: President and CEO Hiroki Totoki) and ZMP Inc. (“ZMP”: CEO Hisashi Taniguchi) have agreed to collaborate on the development and launch of enterprise solutions using autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles for image capture combined with cloud-based data processing. Sony Mobile and ZMP will jointly found “Aerosense Inc.,” a new company slated to be incorporated in early August of this year.

Sony’s camera, sensing, telecommunications network, and robotics technologies will be leveraged alongside ZMP’s automated driving and robotics technologies together with their business experience in industrial fields. Aerosense Inc. will combine these assets and develop comprehensive solutions that meet needs including measuring, surveying, observing, and inspecting. It will aim to roll out these services for enterprise customers beginning in 2016.

Sony Mobile is proactively engaging in new business creation initiatives, with a particular focus on the Internet of Things (IoT) sector. This joint venture represents a part of this push into IoT, as Sony strives to provide its customers with additional value by developing and managing total package cloud solutions.

ZMP’s stated mission is “Robot of Everything: To create a safe, fun and comfortable lifestyle with robotics technology.” In line with this, ZMP has developed its automated driving technology and put it into use in various fields. To date these solutions have been limited to the ground; with this joint venture, ZMP will take to the skies and apply its expertise in an entirely different realm, as it aims to create new services that were not possible on land.

Sony Mobile Communications and ZMP agree to collaborate on development and launch of enterprise solutions using autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles
The two companies will jointly found “Aerosense inc.,” in early August 2015
The partnership will incorporate Sony’s camera, sensing, telecommunications network and robotics technologies with ZMP’s automated driving and robotics technologies

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