Today Sony released its financial results for fiscal year 2015 (ended on March 31, 2016), and according to the Japanese company, throughout the aforementioned timeframe its mobile division revenues dropped by another 20%, recording operating losses of 61.4 billion Yen, or roughly US$544 million. Meanwhile, the company’s game division continues to grow, mostly thanks to the PlayStation 4 console.
According to Sony’s official statement, the company’s mobile division registered operating losses of 61.4 billion Yen ($US544 million) throughout fiscal year 2015, and 20% lower revenues compared to the previous year. It’s worth noting that although last year the company’s mobile segment registered higher operating losses worth 217.6 billion Yen, 176 billion Yen were accounted for by impairment charges, which virtually means that operating losses were actually higher this year. Fortunately, Sony’s games division is winning ground and this can mitigate some of the damage. Reportedly, Sony’s game branch recorded a higher operating income of 88.7 billion Yen (US$785 million), representing an 84.3% increase from a year before. The company says that PlayStation hardware and software sales are contributing to the increase. With an upgraded PlayStation 4 rumored to hit the market eventually, and with PlayStation VR set to hit the shelves by the end of the year along with some of the 100+ games already in development, it’s likely that Sony’s game division will grow further.
Sony also revealed that income from its camera division dropped (only) by 1.7%, while operating profits are up 72.7% to 72.1 billion Yen (US$638). The company’s home entertainment and sound branch is in a similar situation, with sales dropping 6.4% and operating income increasing by 109.8%, or 50.6 billion Yen (US$447 million), largely thanks to its high-end LCD TV offerings. Last but not least, Sony’s “device” division covering products such as batteries and image sensors, recorded operating losses of 28.6 billion Yen (US$253 million), down from 89 billion Yen (US$821 million) operating profits from last year.
Although Sony was able to publish its financial results for fiscal year 2015, it also announced that it has delayed its forecast for fiscal year 2016 (started April 1st) because the company needs to determine the damage caused by the recent earthquakes in Kumamoto, Japan, where Sony operates manufacturing plants including its main digital camera sensor production facility.