Japanese electronics giant Sony Corp slashed its fiscal year profit forecasts yesterday because of costs from a massive global recall of laptop batteries and price cuts in Japan for the next-generation PlayStation 3 video game console.
Sony now expects group net profit of ¥80 billion (US$673 million), down 38 percent from the ¥130 billion it had forecast in July for the fiscal year ending March next year.
Sales Unchanged
It left unchanged its fiscal year sales outlook at ¥8.23 trillion but lowered its operating profit 62 percent to ¥50 billion from the earlier forecast for ¥130 billion.
The Japanese electronics company said in a statement that in the July-September period it will rack up an extra cost of approximately ¥51 billion for the recalls of lithium-ion batteries for laptops announced by practically every major laptop maker in the world.
Sony had initially said the battery recalls will cost the company between ¥20 billion and ¥30 billion.
A price cut in Japan for the PlayStation 3 console, set to go on sale next month, will decrease earnings for the video game sector, it said.
Production delays
The production delays for the console, which forced Sony to delay the product in Europe until next March, will also be costly, Sony said.
Sales and profits for the handheld PlayStation Portable have also been lagging and will push down results, the statement said.
But Sony said despite such setbacks, it is still on its way to a turnaround in its core electronics business because of hit products such as the Bravia range of liquid-crystal-display TVs and its extremely popular digital camera range.
Sony shares, which have fallen back after gaining 50 percent earlier this year, slipped 0.4 percent in Tokyo to close at ¥4,790. The forecast revision was announced just after the market closed.
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
The government is considering polices to increase rental subsidies for people living in social housing who get married and have children, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. During an interview with the Plain Law Movement (法律白話文) podcast, Cho said that housing prices cannot be brought down overnight without affecting banks and mortgages. Therefore, the government is focusing on providing more aid for young people by taking 3 to 5 percent of urban renewal projects and zone expropriations and using that land for social housing, he said. Single people living in social housing who get married and become parents could obtain 50 percent more
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
Democracies must remain united in the face of a shifting geopolitical landscape, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday, while emphasizing the importance of Taiwan’s security to the world. “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism,” Tsai said at the annual forum in the Danish capital. Noting a “new geopolitical landscape” in which global trade and security face “uncertainty and unpredictability,” Tsai said that democracies must remain united and be more committed to building up resilience together in the face of challenges. Resilience “allows us to absorb shocks, adapt under
RSS