Sony makes profit due to significant increase in the delivery of image sensors in smartphones
Sony has made a record profit of 1.2 billion euros in the last quarter of the fiscal year 2017. This increase is partly due to a significant increase in the supplied image sensors for smartphones.
This increase in profits is related to Sony’s semiconductor division, which is responsible for making image sensors for smartphones; after the impact of the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes in Japan, this part is running stable again. In total, nearly 149 million image sensors were shipped in the quarter, an increase of nearly 62 percent from the same quarter a year ago. The profit of this division amounted to 425 million euros, compared to a loss of almost 395 million euros a year ago.
Many divisions of the Japanese electronics manufacturer show improved results. The turnover of Sony’s Imaging division, which includes cameras, increased by 27.3 percent. This division also benefits from the recovery after the Kumamoto earthquakes in Japan. 1.25 million digital cameras have been sold, compared to just 800,000 a year ago. Compared to a year ago, profit rose by over 15 percent to 178 million euros.
The smartphone division achieved a turnover of 1.39 billion euros in the past quarter, a slight decrease compared to a year earlier. More profit was made: from 3 million euros a year ago to 27.6 million euros in the past quarter. The number of smartphones delivered rose from 3.1 million units a year ago to 3.4 million in the past quarter.
Sony’s gaming division, on the other hand, showed a significant decline in profits: in the same quarter a year ago, profits were still 338 million euros, but in the past quarter this fell to almost 136 million euros. Sales increased slightly, according to Sony due to an increase in sales of games for the PlayStation 4 and sales of the PlayStation VR. The decline in profits from last year, according to Sony, is due to the lack of a very profitable game in the past quarter and a price drop that was implemented last year.
Sony had to take a step back in the past quarter with regard to supplied TVs. In the same quarter in 2016, 2.7 million TVs were still sold, compared to 2.5 million in the previous quarter. Sony indicates that this has to do with the transition to the sale of more high-end models. The turnover of the home entertainment division rose by about 9 percent.