Over the last year, we’ve extensively reported Sony’s financial position and their lack of competitive marketing, mainly due to their financial woes. This became even more evident during the company’s recent earnings report which has the electronic giant posting a $1.1 billion annual loss. While Sony is making some strategic moves, like purchasing out the remaining shares of Ericsson and bringing all mobile operation in-house while also revamping their LCD business, these measures won’t be enough for the short term. The truth is, such moves can take years to be properly implemented, and so, Sony, in the meantime, will not see any financial gains. In fact, the opposite will take place with the Ericsson buyout where Sony will be shelling out nearly $1.5 billion for the remaining 50% and patents held.

So what can Sony do to raise some short term capital? Selling the merchandising rights for Spider-Man seems to be the current answer. During the company’s Q2 earning results, Sony announced that it has sold the merchandising rights to Spider-Man for ¥21.4 billion ($278 million). To  be clear, this has nothing to do with the movie rights that Sony holds so don’t think that Disney/Marvel will be taking over the rights. However, it really does put things into perspective, seeing how Spider-Man is one of the best-selling characters of all time. Sony Pictures, the film studio of Sony Corporations, is currently filming The Amazing Spider-Man, a reboot helmed by Marc Webb.

Discuss:

Do you think Sony should have sold the merchandising rights for Spider-Man as they did, or was there more long term value there?