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Games Outweigh Sagging Sensors For Sony
Sony posted a quarterly profit as strength in its PlayStation division outweighed a slowdown in sales of image sensors. The company reported net income of 21.2 billion yen ($205 million) in the quarter through June. The firm maintained its forecast for annual profit of 80 billion yen.
The strength in games is helping investors look past impact from the Kumamoto earthquakes, which shut the primary manufacturing site for image sensors that power digital cameras. Their focus is shifting to how the company manages a global slowdown in smartphone sales that is hitting component sales, and whether it can sustain user growth at its games division before launching a virtual reality platform and upgraded PlayStation consoles.
Sony's game unit revenue rose 15 percent 330.4 billion yen and profit more than doubled to 44 billion yen. Sony is looking to cement its lead over Microsoft and Nintendo by launching a virtual-reality headset in October in the U.S., as well as a more-powerful version of the PS4 potentially before the end of the year.
Sony sold 3.5 million PS4 consoles in the quarter and kept its annual outlook for sales unchanged at 20 million units.
Its TV and movie unit posted a 10.6 billion yen loss, narrowing from a year earlier, on higher sales after the release of summer hit "The Angry Birds Movie."
Sony?s phone division posted a 400 million yen profit after the company slashed costs, reducing its range of models and retreating from markets where it struggled.
The firm reported a 43.5 billion yen quarterly loss in the division that makes image sensors used in smartphones.