Last year we reported that electronics giant Sony was indeed doing very badly, and on the face of it Sony’s finances for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2015 are not so rosy either. Despite reporting overall annual operating income of ¥68.5 billion ($576 million), a big increase from last year’s ¥26.5 billion ($222 million), the company still posted a net loss of ¥126 billion ($1.05 billion). That’s barely less than last year’s net loss of $1.24 billion.
However, due to strong sales of PlayStation 4 and camera image sensors, the company is forecasting strong results for 2015 and expects to make ¥320 billion ($2.69 billion) in operating income and ¥140 billion ($1.1 billion) in net profit. For fiscal year 2014, Sony reported that it had shipped 14.8 million PS4s. Combined with the 7.5 million shipped in the company’s 2013 fiscal year (when the console launched towards the end of it), the total PS4s shipped are now 22.3 million. A few days ago, we reported that Microsoft’s Xbox One sales fell slightly in Q1 2015.
Sales of Sony’s camera image sensors, used in several high-profile smartphones, including Apple’s iPhone, rose 20 percent from 320 million units to 450 million units. The division generated 16.5 percent more turnover and a 36 percent higher operating profit. These numbers mark the beginning of a turnaround for Sony, which has missed several of its earnings targets over the past seven years, and a victory for CEO Kaz Hirai’s plans to overhaul the company.
That said, Sony still has some black holes in its portfolio to watch out for, especially its mobile and tablet businesses, which continue to bleed money. While smartphone sales remained broadly flat, the division suffered an operating loss of ¥217.6 billion ($1.82 billion) thanks to an impairment charge of ¥176 billion ($1.47 billion) and restructuring costs related to the sale of Visual Audio Intelligent Organizer (VAIO). The mobile division is also the only core division that Sony expects to lose money in 2015, forecasting an operating loss of ¥39 billion ($327 million).
As part of Hirai’s restructuring plans, Sony has already exited the PC business and spun off TVs. It also plans to spin off its audio and video business, though it hasn’t yet confirmed what it plans to do with cellphones other than cut down on them. Still, investors are happy with the turn of events: the company’s shares are up more than 30 percent in 2015.