Japan’s Sony Corp jumped 16% on robust sales on Wednesday as it shares the strongest result for the second quarter. Records showed the company’s growth in its image sensor and music sectors.
The company exceeded ¥810 billion annual profit forecasts to ¥840 billion but under an ¥848 billion consensus estimate. Its operating income came in ¥279 billion, almost ¥40 billion more than last year’s results.
Their sensor division’s operating profit rose ¥76.4 billion from last year’s ¥47.9 billion.
Sony’s electronics sector said the jump was from the consumers’ excitement over mobile phones with image sensor features. Expectations show global demand’s expansion grow 60% between 2018 and 2023.
As a result, Sony announced its plans to build a new sensor plant in Nagasaki, Japan. The manufacturer is reasonably dependent on its image sensors as its leading market.
Sony Corp claims it strives to be a “creative entertainment company with a solid foundation of technology.” They claim to see the demand for the sensors as the new fifth-generation wireless technology emerges.
The Japanese technology company also said it was well-aware of its gamble as the smartphone demand remains uncertain.
Sony shares rose 23% since April when Daniel Loeb’s activist hedge fund Third Point urged the company to spin-off its semiconductor sector.
Sony Corp Wins and Loses
EMI Music Publishing helped boost its music business with an increase in streaming revenues.
Sony Corp also reportedly announced its partnership with International Business Machines to help improve work environments for first responders. IBM’s cloud platform plans to work with Samsung Galaxy to track their health vitals.
Police forces are currently testing the platform at its pilot stage.
However, it is not the time for cheer. Sony’s PlayStation dropped 14.9% to ¥340 billion for the April-September period.
The Japanese manufacturer will shut down its live TV streaming service PlayStation Vue, due on January 30 next year. The company is currently looking for a buyer for the service for its profit loss since March 2015.
PlayStation Vue was described as a “restructured form of cable.” The pay-TV service offered small bundles of channels that require consumers to buy into adding more premium ones.
Vue gathered 500,000 subscribers at best, but it wasn’t enough against its competitors at $50 a month.
Due to cost outweighing its revenue, Sony Corp needed to retreat its service.
Sony’s gaming business also dropped its profits when big PlayStation 4 hits declined. The console’s six-year run fell when the company announced its plans to release its new PlayStation 5 console next year.
Sony Corp Competes
Key examples for the image-reliant company’s competition include Apple and Google parent company, Alphabet. Sony Corp dives under pressure as Apple comes close to launching its new streaming service.
Apple installed a third lens to its iPhone 11, which can capture three photos at once, including those not in the mainframe. All cameras have 12MPs, although they come in different sizes.
As Vue exits the pay-TV industry, Apple enters with Apple TV+, a streaming service advertised as on par with Netflix. The giant American technology company plans to release the platform on November 1.
Alphabet Inc. also has its streaming service, Chromecast, which serves as a remote for streaming Google video content. However, reports claim the device had not upgraded since its first launch five years ago.
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