After years of refusing to entertain the idea of selling its long-struggling TV business, Sony Corp. CEO Kazuo Hirai said Wednesday that putting the unit on the auction block is now an option.

¡°It¡¯s not that we aren¡¯t thinking about partnering or selling to other firms at all. . . . Depending on the situation, we¡¯ll have to consider (such options),¡± Hirai said at a news conference at Sony¡¯s Tokyo headquarters during which he introduced a new three-year business plan.

Previously, Hirai had said that the TV business was important to the electronics giant and that he was not thinking about selling it.