Sony Corp reported a ¥98.9 billion (US$1 billion) loss for the fiscal year ended March — its first annual net loss in 14 years — and projected more losses this year amid a serious slump in the global electronics market.
Sony also said yesterday it was closing three plants in Japan to help turn its business around.
Hit by dropping sales and a strong yen, Sony lost ¥165 billion in the January-to-March quarter, compared with a ¥29 billion profit for the same period the previous year.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The Japanese electronics and entertainment company said no quick recovery was in sight, projecting a ¥120 billion (US$1.2 billion) loss for the fiscal year through March 2010.
The results are a reversal from the ¥369.4 billion profit Sony recorded a year earlier. Sales for the fiscal year through March slid 12.9 percent to ¥7.73 trillion, it said.
Sony, which makes Bravia flat-panel TVs and Cyber-shot digital cameras, is closing three plants in Japan by the end of December — one for handsets, another for video recorder parts and another for systems used for smart cards. After they are shuttered, the number of Sony’s global plants will dwindle from 57 last year to 49.
By operations, Sony said it had an operating loss in its core electronics segment because of the slowing global economy, price competition and a strong yen, which offset profits from its liquid-crystal display TV division.
Sony also continued to lose money in its game segment, where its PlayStation 3 home console and PlayStation Portable have struggled against rival offerings from Nintendo Co, the Wii and DS, as well as in some markets against the Xbox 360 from Microsoft Corp.
The company sold 10.06 million PlayStation 3 machines for the fiscal year through March, up 10 percent from the previous year. It also sold more PlayStation Portable machines, at 14.1 million during the fiscal year, up slightly from 13.8 million.
In its movies division, home entertainment sales declined despite stronger motion picture releases, including Hancock, Sony said.
Analysts say Sony chief executive Howard Stringer, who decided to centralize power earlier this year, has yet to give details of a turnaround plan, including strategies and products.
Stringer has promoted four relatively young executives into his managerial team, representing Sony’s gaming and electronics sectors.
Sony also faces a host of rivals that make similar products, often at cheaper prices, such as Samsung Electronics Co of South Korea, as well as manufacturers from Taiwan, China and other nations, such as Acer Inc (宏碁) and Lenovo Group Inc (聯想).
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS