Sony Corporation has released its FY14 results (for the year ending March 2015) reporting sales of $68.5bn, a flat performance year-on-year on a constant currency basis. Sony delivered operating income of $571m despite recording a $1.5bn impairment relating to the mobile division.
In terms of the mobile segment, sales were up 7% on a constant currency basis to $11.0bn. This was mainly due to “an improvement in product mix as a result of a focus on high value-added models.” Overall, Sony Mobile shipped 39.1 million smartphones – bang in line with the previous year.
The outlook for Sony smartphones in FY15 (12 months to March 2016) is challenging. Sony is forecasting smartphone shipments of just 30 million units – 23% lower than the year just ended. This is “due to a reduction in mid-range smartphone unit sales in an effort to improve the profit structure of the segment”.
Sony is forecasting FY15 mobile sales to decline by 7% to 1,310 billion yen (FY14: 1,410 billion yen) and an FY15 operating loss of 39 billion yen (FY14: loss of 218 billion yen). Sony is in the middle of a transition when it comes to mobile, as Xperia fans, we look forward to see how it responds to the challenge and hopefully a more focused portfolio of devices.