Report: Why Sony Australia closed its CD/DVD plant

The reason behind Sony Australia’s decision to close its CD/DVD disc making plant in Western Sydney earlier this year has now become public.

The Australian Financial Review (AFR) reported the factory was closed after 25 years after sustaining losses due to consumers moving from the physical format to streaming.

Accounts lodged this month with the corporate regulator showed SCA Music Holdings (Australia) posted a $9.7 million loss from revenue of  $73.6 million in the year to March 31, 2018.

The AFR reported, “The subsidiary of the Japanese electronics giant, which trades under the name Sony DADC, has since outsourced disc production to two other companies, Technicolor and CCS Media Packaging.”

The printing plant in Huntingwood, near Blacktown, closed on February 12, putting 320 employees out of work.

Its equipment was listed for sale a month later.

“This unique offering of late model equipment should not be missed and our vendor instructions are for everything to be sold,” said the auction house.

The closure of the Sydney plant followed that of a plant in Minnesota, in the US, with a loss of 380 jobs.

SCA made a profit of $4 million from revenues in $86.8 million.

In 2016, it had a profit of $8.8 million from revenues of $110.8 million.

The AFR also reported that Sony Music Entertainment Australia also lodged accounts this month with the regular which showed that it had sales of $119. 3 million for the year to March 31, 2018.

This was a rise from the $108 million generated in the year to March 31, 2017, and $98.8 million from the year before that.

Post-tax profits for the 2018 accounts were $605,000 after marketing and sales expenditure.