Sony (NYSE:SONY) reported a 29% decline in operating profit for the July-September quarter, primarily impacted by weaker performance in its image sensor and financial divisions. The quarterly profit reached 263 billion yen ($1.74 billion), falling short of the 306 billion yen estimate from analysts. The company faced challenges in its chips division, experiencing a 37% drop in profit due to higher expenses and weaker sales of image sensors used in smartphones.
Sony President Hiroki Totoki acknowledged a significant year-on-year decline in the North American market but expressed optimism about a recovery in the next fiscal year. Despite the challenges, Sony maintained its sales target of 25 million PlayStation 5 (PS5) consoles for the fiscal year. The company aims to benefit from the launch of a new, slimmer version of the device.
Totoki acknowledged the difficulty in achieving the PS5 target, but Sony sold 4.9 million PS5 units in the second quarter, bringing total sales for the fiscal year to 8.2 million units. The release of “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2” in October added optimism for the year-end shopping season, with five million units of the game sold by the end of that month.
Sony’s movie division announced its collaboration with Nintendo to co-finance and distribute a live-action adaptation of Nintendo’s iconic “Zelda” franchise. Analysts raised the possibility of further collaboration between the two Japanese entertainment giants, considering Sony’s strong distribution network and publishing track record.
The company maintained its full-year operating profit view at 1.17 trillion yen but raised its sales and net income forecast by 2% each. Sony shares ended down 0.8% ahead of the earnings report, having climbed 32% so far this year.
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