Sony Corporation ("Sony") today announced that it will outsource a part of the human resources and accounting operation services of Sony and certain of its subsidiaries in Japan (collectively, "Sony Group in Japan") to IBM Japan, Ltd. ("IBM Japan").

Sony is undertaking steps on a global scale to execute structural transformation to achieve profitability improvement and optimize business processes. Sony made the decision to outsource a part of its business processes announced today as a part of these initiatives, and through this outsourcing in strong partnership with IBM Japan, Sony intends to further improve the efficiency of its operations and accelerate its transformation initiatives.

In connection with the above-mentioned outsourcing decision, Sony, IBM Japan and Manpower Japan Co., Ltd. ("Manpower Japan") have agreed to establish a joint venture. The joint venture will be formed by splitting a part of the human resources service operations from Sony Human Capital Corporation ("Sony Human Capital"), which currently undertakes human resources service, business travel and insurance operations mainly for Sony Group in Japan.

IBM Japan will provide its human resources and accounting operation services to Sony Group in Japan using the new joint venture as its base in Japan and IBM Global Delivery Center in Dalian, China as its base outside Japan.

<Outline of the new joint venture (plan)>