Sony Mobile profits hit breakeven in first quarter; 3.1 million units shipped

Sony Corporation reported its first quarter results earlier today for the three months to 30 June 2016. Unfortunately, the mobile division is still struggling. Sales during the first quarter fell by 34% year-on-year to 186 billion yen, however Sony was able to report a broadly breakeven operating profit position of 0.4 billion yen ($4m).

The drop in sales was due to reduction mid-range smartphone sales along with a decline in sales in unprofitable geographical areas. Regarding the latter, Sony is already implementing downsizing measures in regions such as USA, India and China. Sony says that this reduction has been partially offset by higher sales of premium smartphones.

Overall, Sony Mobile shipped 3.1 million Xperia units which represents a 57% decline over last year (7.2m). Sony has trimmed its full year forecast from 20m units to 19m units, which Sony is blaming on a lower than expected performance in Europe. It’s a shame that we continue to see forecasts being trimmed for this year. We hope Sony has some great handsets in its line-up for the second half of the year to turn this around.

Thanks Rony and Steve!