The change of ion business focus of the once Japanese tech giant Sony Corp seems to be bearing fruit as the demand for company’s gaming, movies and other content during the Covid-19 pandemic helped the company to post operating profit of 66.5 billion yen ($610.8 million) for its fourth quarter compared to 35.4 billion yen for the same period a year earlier.
However the company missed the estimates of average profit from five analyst estimates compiled by Refinitiv of 76.1 billion yen for the three months that ended on March 31.
The pandemic continued to force people to stay back home because of lockdowns and other restrictions during the latest ended quarter of the company which resulted in strong demand for its PlayStation 5 games console, games, movies and other content which benefitted the company and propped up its operating profits but not the extent as was being expected by the market.
The aim of Sony is to make use of the games consoles, which was launched in the core markets of the company in November, to encourage people to make more downloads of its online games as well as sign-ups for the subscription services of the company.
However the company is also streamlining its consumer electronic business even as it focuses more on offering movies, games and other content. The company is said to be making plans for closure of a factory in Malaysia that makes home audio equipment, headphones and other consumer electronic products.
In December, the company had said that it had agreed to buy AT&T Inc's animation business Crunchyroll which gave it access to more than 3 million new subscribers in more than 200 countries which will help the company to further strengthen its entertainment content and distribution business.
And earlier this month, Sony also announced striking of a deal with Walt Disney Co to offer "Spider-Man" movies and other films on the streaming service of Disney after the company had also signed an agreement with Netflix Inc for streaming of its movies.
For the entire business for the entire year, a forecast of drop in profits by 4.3 per cent to 930 billion yen was also made by Sony compared to an average estimate of analysts of 976.4 billion yen according to Refinitiv data.
(Source:www.usnews.com)
However the company missed the estimates of average profit from five analyst estimates compiled by Refinitiv of 76.1 billion yen for the three months that ended on March 31.
The pandemic continued to force people to stay back home because of lockdowns and other restrictions during the latest ended quarter of the company which resulted in strong demand for its PlayStation 5 games console, games, movies and other content which benefitted the company and propped up its operating profits but not the extent as was being expected by the market.
The aim of Sony is to make use of the games consoles, which was launched in the core markets of the company in November, to encourage people to make more downloads of its online games as well as sign-ups for the subscription services of the company.
However the company is also streamlining its consumer electronic business even as it focuses more on offering movies, games and other content. The company is said to be making plans for closure of a factory in Malaysia that makes home audio equipment, headphones and other consumer electronic products.
In December, the company had said that it had agreed to buy AT&T Inc's animation business Crunchyroll which gave it access to more than 3 million new subscribers in more than 200 countries which will help the company to further strengthen its entertainment content and distribution business.
And earlier this month, Sony also announced striking of a deal with Walt Disney Co to offer "Spider-Man" movies and other films on the streaming service of Disney after the company had also signed an agreement with Netflix Inc for streaming of its movies.
For the entire business for the entire year, a forecast of drop in profits by 4.3 per cent to 930 billion yen was also made by Sony compared to an average estimate of analysts of 976.4 billion yen according to Refinitiv data.
(Source:www.usnews.com)