On the basis of the success of its game and music divisions, it increased its yearly prediction.
According to Sony’s earnings report for the first quarter of the year that ended on June 30th (PDF) and its revised fiscal year outlook, the business had a mixed bag of results. The company’s total operating profit for the quarter decreased 31% year over year from 364.9 billion yen ($2.54 billion) to 253 billion yen ($1.76 billion). However, the company’s revenue increased by 33% as a result of a big uptick in its music, imaging, game, and network services, as well as music and financial services businesses’ sales.
Due to better-than-anticipated sales in the gaming and music industries, Sony has increased (PDF) its sales and revenue prediction for the fiscal year that ends on March 31, 2024 by 6.1 percent. Additionally, it anticipates an increase in net income of 2.4 percent, from 840 billion yen ($5.86 billion) to 860 billion ($6 billion).
Sony has adjusted its projection, particularly for its games segment, as a result of its expectation that sales of PlayStation games developed by third parties, including downloadable content, will rise. For PlayStation fans, this year will see the release of a number of eagerly anticipated titles, including Spider-Man 2, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty Expansion, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, and EA Sports FC.
A reduction in costs and expenses will contribute to the anticipated increase in sales for third-party titles. Nevertheless, they will be partially offset by a “deterioration in the profitability of PlayStation 5 hardware.” Sony recently reduced the cost of the PS5 in a number of international markets. While that means less money made overall from the platform, it might also persuade hesitant buyers to eventually buy a PS5, which might result in more game purchases.
In the first quarter of the year, Sony shipped 3.3 million PS5 systems. Even though that number was for the holiday season, when businesses normally do better than usual, it represents almost half of the 6.3 million unit sales made in the preceding quarter. As of now, Sony has sold 41.7 million PS5 consoles, making this the best-performing first quarter for sales.
Sony has cut its forecasts for the sales of mobile sensors due to the ongoing decline in smartphone sales, but updating its prognosis with improved overall year numbers. Despite Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’s success, Sony Pictures’ earnings decreased year over year. Due to the effects of the Writers Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild strikes, the corporation does not anticipate an economic recovery and predicts that it will perform worse than expected last April.
