(Telecompaper) Sony is in talks to unload its PC business to investment fund Japan Industrial Partners, in order to focus more on smartphones, people familiar with the matter told the Nikkei. Under the plan, the fund will establish a new company to which Sony will sell its entire PC business. The sale price is estimated at JPY 40-50 billion (USD 391-489 million). The new entity would continue to sell PCs under the Vaio brand and also handle after-sales service. Sony will continue to hold a small stake in the new company, which will focus on the Japan market and withdraw from most other countries. Sony was the ninth-ranked PC maker in the world with a 1.9 percent share of all PCs shipped during the January-September period of 2013, according to IDC. Sony does not break down figures for the PC business, which is grouped in the same division as mobile phones, but it is thought to be losing money.