Sony announced an overall net profit increase of up to $664 million, an impressive figure that is said to have surpassed analyst expectations.
Sony's second quarter earnings in 2015 have more than tripled compared to the same period last year. The company attributes such achievement to its PlayStation 4 and camera sensor businesses as its top contributors, adding that the gaming console has successfully sold 25.3 million gaming units worldwide. The console has now taken a significant lead in the market, beating its competitors Xbox One and Nintendo Wii U in terms of record sales.
Records show that Sony's operating profit also increased by 39 percent to $160 million. The company's game and network services division had surpassed over 12 percent on PS4 software sales.
According to Kazuo Hirai, President and CEO of Sony Corporation, this fiscal year will be marked as the beginning of the company's expansion phase which shall kick off by selling stock and convertible bonds in order to raise $3.4 billion in funds. The latter will then be used for a planned spending increase on semiconductor by up to four times as well as service and investment plans on video game network and virtual reality devices.
"Market expectations for Sony have changed to now anticipate growth," said Kazunori Ito, an analyst at Tokyo-based Barclays Plc. "The PS4 had an excellent start and is now at a point where Sony is expected to begin reaping the benefits."
Back in February, Sony announced that it is turning its video and audio business into a separate company which shall form part of its three-year turnaround plan. Sales of Sony Pictures dropped as much as 11.9 percent which resulted to an operating loss of $96 million. Its home entertainment division, which includes AV equipment and TVs, also experienced a sales drop of 13.8 percent.
In the meantime, the company's devices division, which is responsible for making the camera sensors that are usually found among the high-end devices from Samsung and Apple, is seen as enjoying continuous growth. This particular division saw an increase in sales of up to 35.1 percent to $2 billion. Likewise, it also enjoyed an increase of 41.2 percent of sales to its external customers.
Sony is now implementing a refocused strategy where it shall place bigger emphasis on devices which are believed to be more profitable. This had become evident when the company sold phones that are 16 percent fewer during the quarter. The company is also currently in a restructuring phase which led to significant cuts in asset sales and manpower. New business ventures are also in the pipeline which include a plan to launch a drone company and a new crowdfunding platform as the company strives to boost innovation and fresh thinking.
