Sony Corp yesterday said it expects a record net profit this financial year, as fresh COVID-19 lockdowns continue to boost demand for video games and consoles, including the recently released PlayStation 5 (PS5).
Although the COVID-19 pandemic has hit many industries hard, the gaming sector has been one of the few to experience an unprecedented boom, with people seeking entertainment at home during successive rounds of restrictions.
The Japanese tech giant said net profit jumped 87 percent in April to December last year from the same period a year earlier to ￥1.1 trillion (US$10.5 billion).
A woman walks past a Playstation 5 displayed at the headquarters of Sony Corp in Tokyo yesterday. Photo: EPA-EFE
Sony’s strong results led the firm to revise its full-year sales and profit forecasts upward on the back of “higher-than-expected sales in all segments except for the pictures [movies] segment,” it said.
Full-year sales are now projected at ￥8.8 trillion, up from ￥8.5 trillion forecast in October last year.
Sony, which also revised its annual forecasts up last quarter, hiked net profit outlook to a record ￥1.1 trillion for the fiscal year to next month, from an earlier estimate of ￥800 billion.
The much anticipated PlayStation 5 console hit shelves in November last year, starting a head-to-head battle for holiday sales with the new Xbox from US rival Microsoft Corp.
PlayStation 5 sales reached 4.5 million units by the end of December last year and Sony expects to sell 7.6 million by the end of next month, hoping to beat the performance of the PlayStation 4.
However, pandemic-related supply problems have left many would-be customers empty-handed.
The demand has led to chaotic scenes at electronic stores when supplies do become available.
“PS5 got off to a steady start in general, selling well in accordance with its plan,” said Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at Ace Research Institute in Tokyo.
“Initial shipping and marketing costs squeezed its earnings in the third quarter, but we should not be pessimistic so far,” Yasuda told reporters.
As well as sales in the gaming sector, Sony’s strong earnings were driven by strong performance for imaging sensors — key parts for cameras in smartphones including models made by Apple Inc and Huawei Technologies Co (華為).
Sony’s animation unit Aniplex also scored a box-office triumph with the anime epic Demon Slayer, which in December last year became Japan’s top-grossing film of all time.
“Although the film’s contribution to such a huge company was limited, it helped boost Sony’s brand image,” Yasuda said, as the firm seeks to broaden its entertainment offering.
However, it was not all smooth sailing, with Sony opting to pull the much-hyped game Cyberpunk 2077 from PlayStation stores in December last year after a flood of complaints over bugs and compatibility issues.
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