Sony Q1 2016: Mobile at a loss, but makes up with PlayStation

Time budgets for Sony, which, like other major brand of hi-tech industry, has formalized in recent hours financial results for the first quarter of 2016. The turnover amounted to 71.7 billion dollars, a slight decrease of 1, 3% year on year, but the net profit and operating profit, respectively, were $ 2.7 billion and $ 2.6 billion, are both higher than in the same period last year. Sony confirms that the reduction in turnover was mainly due to the decline in sales of smartphones. Luckily, the PlayStation division, in excellent shape, allowed to close in the quarter balance active.

Hurt the mobile area with a Xperia range that can not leave positive traces in the financial statements. In the first quarter 2016, sales generated by the division in the quarter in question, amounting to 9.978 million dollars, down 20% year on year and closed with a loss of 544 million dollars. For now, Sony has not provided more detailed information on the measures to be taken to bring the budget back in surplus in the mobile area. A benefit undoubtedly unconvincing, confirmed, among other things, by the recent data provided by IDC on the first quarter of 2016 under which Sony will no longer feature in the top five of the leading smartphone manufacturers.

Opposite tone are the results achieved in the field of gaming. Revenue grew by 11.8% year on year, reaching 13.73 billion dollars; also increased the operating profit by $ 785 million (+ 84.3% yoy). The sale of the software - also including one generated from the online store - and PS4 consoles have been the main growth factor, while hardware and software PS3 recorded a physiological decline.

The performance in the imaging sector are rather flat account of turnover on year (6.294 billion US dollars, down 1.7%), but the operating profit grew by 72.7% compared to the same quarter of 2015, thanks to a reduction in operating costs and the turnover generated by high-end digital camera. Sony emphasizes that the sales trend is influenced by market dynamics, characterized by shrinking demand for camcorders and digital cameras.

similar dynamics to the activities attributable to the segment Home Entertainment and Sound: turnover declining year on year (10.257 billion US dollars, down 6.4%), due to the contraction in demand for LCD TVs and home audio and video systems, but operating profit grew by 109.8% due to the activity of reducing costs and the sales generated by the high-end LCD TV.

The fifth and final macro-category present in Sony's quarterly financial statements, Devices, makes record another significant loss of $ 253 million which is even more evident because as opposed to the financial statements in surplus in the same period last year. This is the division responsible for the production and sale of products such as sensors, batteries and recording media. Sony expressly identifies the decline in demand for camera modules for smartphones, one of the main factors that have contributed to the negative result.