A report over a web-site claims that Sony Corp. will stop selling liquid crystal displays (LCDs) in North America and Japan later this year. Given that these two markets are fairly large, this may mean that Sony may quit the business eventually.

DigiTimes web-site reports citing industry sources that Sony will quit LCD monitor business in Japan and in North America starting from October, 2006. It even claims that several sources indicated that the leading maker of consumer electronics may exit the highly-competitive LCD monitor market in the first half of 2007, at the soonest.

While Sony does not comment on rumours, quitting LCD monitor business may be inline with the company’s strategy to withdraw from highly-competitive businesses the company does not have obvious success in. For example, Sony has exited plasma panel television and is scrapping its Qualia lineup of luxury consumer electronics, as neither of the businesses brought the company profits and market shares it wanted.

Sony, which has not posted full-year profits since its fiscal 2002, is currently in process of rebuilding itself under the lead of Howard Stringer, the company’s first chief executive not from Japan. That said, the company, which is mostly known for its consumer electronics, may perform actions not expected by general public, e.g., quit certain businesses under the pressure of other companies.

DisplaySearc, a market tracking agency, indicates that Sony had the tenth position in the global LCD monitor market in 2005 and supplied about 3.07 million LCDs. In Q4 2005, the sales volume of Sony’s LCD monitors totaled 347 thousand units in North America, accounting for 40% of its worldwide quarterly shipments.