Sony gets set to take Web TV to Europe

Sony could launch both its PC and Web TV Internet terminal lines in Europe next year after successful US debuts.

The company also admits computer and multimedia products will contribute vast amounts to its fiscal 97 results, which run to the end of March.

Suehiro Nakamura, managing director at the electronics giant, said Web TV ? the combined TV, email and Internet terminal ? will arrive in Europe soon after a scheduled launch in Japan next year.

Sony launched Web TV alongside its own-brand computers in the US last October and has sold 300,000 PCs since. ?We have research and development activity in the US and Europe for the multimedia area. It will have an enormous contribution in the long term,? Nakamura said.

For its year to 31 March 1997, the company predicts a profit of Y105 billion (#543.6 million) on sales of Y5.35 trillion (#27.7 billion).