Tokyo: Sony Corp reported on Thursday a smaller flow of red ink for the fiscal second quarter on a sales recovery and restructuring efforts and stuck to its full year forecast for a return to profit from its worst loss in company history the previous year.
The Japanese electronics and entertainment company recorded a 15.5 billion yen ($193 million) loss for the July-September period, much better than the 27 billion yen loss racked up the same period the previous year. Quarterly sales improved 1.9 per cent to 1.6 trillion yen ($20 billion).
The Tokyo-based maker of Bravia TVs and the PlayStation 3 game machine remains in deep trouble as does much of the Japanese electronics industry — slammed by cheaper competition in flat-panel TVs, and by Apple Inc. of the US and South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. in mobile devices.
Sony, which reported a record annual loss of 457 billion yen ($5.7 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, its fourth straight year of red ink, stuck to its forecast to eke out a 20 billion yen ($250 million) profit for the current fiscal year.
Sony said it had carried out cost cuts in its flat-panel TV operations and sales improved in its mobile phone segment, but sales faltered in its digital cameras because of the popularity of smartphones, according to the company. It continues to lose money in its TV business, now in its ninth straight year of losses.
Its game unit also suffered as the drop in hardware and software sales of the PlayStation 3 home console was not offset by the sales of the new PS Vita hand-held machine.
Sony’s troubles were exacerbated last year by factory and supplier damage in northeastern Japan from the March earthquake and tsunami.
Sony is aiming for a comeback under Kazuo Hirai, appointed president in April, who headed the company’s game division and built his career in the U.S.
For the latest quarter, Sony Pictures Entertainment got a perk from the strong performance of “The Amazing Spider-Man,” offset by the less successful “Total Recall.” In music, strong-sellers included P!nk’s “The Truth about Love” and Michael Jackson’s “Bad - 25th Anniversary,” it said.
As part of its turnaround efforts, Sony recently sold its chemical products business. It also acquired U.S.-based Gaikai Inc. to set up a new cloud service, which delivers massive virtual storage, to expand interactive entertainment offerings. Sony also plans to start selling a super TV next month called “4K” that has an 84-inch display delivering superior image quality.
Sony says it’s hoping to take advantage of its digital imaging and sensor technology for security and medical markets. But analysts say it’s unclear when the payoff for such forays will materialize.
