On a continuing basis, Sony introduces new product quality improvement measures into all processes, from development, planning, design and manufacturing to sales and service activities. Such recent measures include:

•	assuring senior management oversight and attention to improving product and service quality and safety, as well as timely responses to problems;
•	appointing personnel within each product and business group who are ultimately responsible for quality, to spearhead initiatives in the areas for which they are responsible;
•	holding regular Quality Strategy Meetings, attended by Sony's president and top management from each business group, including manufacturing and marketing executives from the Electronics business, to discuss and set policies, strategies and key measures relating to product quality;
•	formulating corporate quality standards applicable to Sony's electronics products, focusing on such criteria as product safety and performance, labeling and services. These standards are updated continuously to reflect technological advances, changes in applicable legal and regulatory requirements and social changes.
•	establishing and advancing a project management system for the Group-wide quality enhancement initiative, with the aim of providing "high-quality, reliable products that our customers can use with confidence" and "heartfelt customer service with a personal touch" as set out in the Sony Pledge of Quality; and
•	strengthening rules worldwide from September 2006 to ensure prompt reporting to the Product Safety and Quality Officer when Sony receives information about an incident involving a Sony product that affects customer safety or has the potential to do so. Based on these reports, this Corporate Executive provides the necessary follow-up, instructs the relevant divisions, and responds appropriately to the customer. In December 2007, Sony applied the same system to possible software vulnerabilities in products.

Sony makes active use of customer feedback to improve our products. Complaints, suggestions, ideas and reports of malfunctions received from customers at the Customer Information Center after purchase are promptly and accurately evaluated and disseminated to the planning and design groups so that improvements in product quality can be made in a timely fashion.
   One example is the release in autumn 2006 of digital cameras and video cameras with improved usability through the provision of operation guides and step-by-step instructions on the products' LCD screens.

It is vital to detect product quality-related problems as early as possible. To that end, Sony therefore established the Product Quality Information Channel in 2003, to gather product quality-related information, including reports of problems, as well as opinions from Sony Group employees. Employees can send messages to the Product Quality Information Channel website. This can be done when, during the course of their work, they discover a issue related to product quality that they cannot address with, or when a quality-related problem occurs while they are using a Sony product. After the Product Quality Information Channel investigates the information received gathered, it proposes and introduces measures to avoid potential problems and prevent previous problems from recurring.
   As of March 2008, Sony had received more than 1,100 reports since the establishment of the Channel. The diverse range of information received has included proposals to make products and manuals more user-friendly, and has led to more than 750 improvements.

As another part of the effort to improve the safety of our products, Sony has established an in-house product safety assurance capability for examining product safety from a medical perspective, to help ensure Sony products have no adverse effects on human health. The results of these efforts, as well as advice from experts outside the company, are then incorporated into product development with new technology, design and engineering processes.

The networking of consumer electronics products in recent years has increased the danger of, among others, the leakage of personal information and the destruction of data. As a consequence, ensuring the information security of products has become an important issue. In addition to establishing a special function for collecting security risk-related information from outside experts, Sony has created an internal information security team comprised of individuals assigned to each business group. Based on information received, this team assesses the potential impact on Sony products and implements appropriate measures. Sony has strengthened our systems to prevent problems concerning product security vulnerability, and to ensure prompt information sharing and solutions should a problem arise. At the same time, Sony has introduced in-house training and has tightened rules governing the handling of such issues.

Sony recognizes that ensuring our customers' trust, confidence and satisfaction is a crucial management task and strives to prevent quality-related problems through the systems and efforts described previously. Accordingly, Sony responds swiftly when a problem arises by investigating the facts and taking appropriate action.
  Sony is currently taking steps company-wide to strengthen efforts to incorporate compliance with laws and standards governing product safety into in-house processes.