During its long, painful decline, Sony has suffered plenty of indignities. Given that history, even embarrassing news about the company's troubled consumer electronics business comes as just another blow to the company's pride. Atul Goyal of Jefferies on Monday published a report valuing Sony's consumer electronics business at zero. Yes, Sony, the pride of Japan Inc, the company behind the Walkman and the Trinitron, has a worthless consumer electronics business. During its lost decade, Sony has shown that if there's one thing it can do well, it's to disappoint optimists. Yesterday's announcement that revenue from the components operation will enjoy strong growth in the years ahead should make buyers beware. That helped reassure some investors, with Sony's share price jumping nearly 6% on Tuesday to a 52-week high.