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Sony Corporation releases its Q3 earnings report for Fiscal Year 2012 yesterday. Reports show a decline in consumer electronics sales, as well as a cut to estimates for Portable Entertainment Systems, the PSP and PS Vita. More details after the jump.
According to financial reports, Sony Corp. experiences a 10.72 billion yen (approx. 132 million USD) loss for quarter ending December 31st, 2012. The results highlight intensified competition and severe market conditions, illustrating a decline in consumer demand for key electronic products. Further analysis of results show significant improvement year-over-year, considering last year's loss around this time of 158.4 billion yen, a 93% change.
A strong restructuring of its organization is what Sony has done differently this year. Realignment of its segments, now branded Imaging Products & Solutions, Home Entertainment & Sound, and Mobile Products & Communications, etc., is expected tighten and streamline operations. CEO Kaz Hirai acknowledges the red-tape that holds his company back as he states,"We need to be a lot faster in decision making. We need to be a lot faster in execution. We need to be passionate about our product."
Profitable segments for Q3 for Sony include its Gaming, Pictures, Music and Financial Services. Minor decreases in sales forecasts Compact Digital Cameras, PCs, LCD TVs, and Blu-ray recorders due to falling market conditions. A notable forecast cut was to the PS Vita / PSP sales, from 10 million units cumulative, to 7 million this fiscal year.
The outlook for Sony is quite the uphill battle. The increasingly competitive electronics market is ever-changing as consumers needs shift quickly over time. On its front lines, Sony is promoting its new angle on the Total Home Theatre Experience. It's counting on its streaming services such as Video Unlimited and Music Unlimited, along with the introduction of 4K technology into the consumer markets.
With this in mind, I believe Sony is in a strong position to make a great recovery. It's operations are still very profitable, considering the expenses of restructuring this year. New technology, like 4K, will take plenty of time for consumers to adopt, but if they are truly geared towards its success, people will move towards their TVs. In my opinion, Year One for the Vita was not as great as it could be. Sony should focus a bit more on early adopters of their consoles because essentially, we are the ones talking about it.
What do you think of the Vita selling less than expected this year? Leave us a comment below!
Source:
http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/financial/fr/index.html
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