Sony Expects Additional $200 Million Fiscal Year Loss

[George P Global Moderator]

Believe most of Sonys income comes from life/health insurance I remember reading at some stage. 

 

It does, Sony is the biggest insurance seller in Japan (doesn't sell outside of Japan iirc), every electronics division of sony is either losing money or barely breaking even.  They left the PC business, I bet they'll leave the TV business in a few years as well.  The optical media division is also going nowhere but down as DVD and BD sales for discs and drives is dropping faster than they expected it will, last thing they'd want is to try and come up with yet another optical media format though knowing them they'll do that trick again only to lose more money before they finally sell that part off to someone as well.

 

I don't know if the movie studio is doing good, and phones and tablets are so-so.  PS4 isn't going to make money for "at least another year" though that's their guess, just shows the $399 price was low/aggressive.     We could be looking at a Sony that has basically spun off it's Movie+music studios into one company and then a 2nd company that's just phones, tablets and the playstation as a "entertainment" device type deal at some point.    They're getting beat around by the Korean electronics companies like Samsung and LG, and now even the Chinese are growing and taking what's left, like Lenovo for example.    I read their market cap is around $30billion, if it keeps dropping they'll turn into a takeover target for someone, and there's lots of companies out there with deeper pockets.

[GotBored]

I dont get how a company can sell a major PC division and still lose money? Are they paying someone to take VAIO brand off their hands?

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

It does, Sony is the biggest insurance seller in Japan (doesn't sell outside of Japan iirc), every electronics division of sony is either losing money or barely breaking even. They left the PC business, I bet they'll leave the TV business in a few years as well. The optical media division is also going nowhere but down as DVD and BD sales for discs and drives is dropping faster than they expected it will, last thing they'd want is to try and come up with yet another optical media format though knowing them they'll do that trick again only to lose more money before they finally sell that part off to someone as well.

I don't know if the movie studio is doing good, and phones and tablets are so-so. PS4 isn't going to make money for "at least another year" though that's their guess, just shows the $399 price was low/aggressive. We could be looking at a Sony that has basically spun off it's Movie+music studios into one company and then a 2nd company that's just phones, tablets and the playstation as a "entertainment" device type deal at some point. They're getting beat around by the Korean electronics companies like Samsung and LG, and now even the Chinese are growing and taking what's left, like Lenovo for example. I read their market cap is around $30billion, if it keeps dropping they'll turn into a takeover target for someone, and there's lots of companies out there with deeper pockets.

The PS4 is making money, the whole PlayStation division is in profit, its the other divisions causing overall losses.

[HawkMan]

Well it's making money if they put the R&D in a separate division ;)  it's going to be a while until it's actually making money. 

 

But the PS4 is losing money that's true, but it's also not quite making money until it's paid of R&D. 

[theyarecomingforyou]

Their TV business and camera business have been leaking money for years. Pretty much the only profitable divisions are their Movie industry, their Record Company and the Playstation Division. Their movie company was on rocky water recently after financing several high profile movies that cost a tonne to make and didn't do so well in the theatres, but overall I think it's still profitable.

The PlayStation 3 actually lost money and it's the same with its movies business. It's in a terrible financial position and doesn't have much hope of recovering.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Well it's making money if they put the R&D in a separate division ;)  it's going to be a while until it's actually making money. 

 

But the PS4 is losing money that's true, but it's also not quite making money until it's paid of R&D. 

 

Yes but it's a difference the actual console making profit at launch as opposed to the PS3 which lost hundreds per unit sold at launch. Usually when people like us refer to a console making money on each sale we're talking about what I've just said, not balancing in R&D as well. We're not accountants! (most of us anyway)

[George P Global Moderator]

The PS4 is making money, the whole PlayStation division is in profit, its the other divisions causing overall losses.

 

Except that it doesn't sound like that's the case at all.   From the reuters article itself "Strong sales of the Playstation 4 console offer one bright spot, but development costs mean it could take at least another year to turn a profit."

 

You can't forget the initial costs that went into it, this is why it's always taken years for each console generation to turn a profit.   The PS4 sounds like it's no different.

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

Are Sony TVs not good anymore? I have had several Sony TVs in the 90s and early 2000s and they were really great. Of course, this was before everything went to LCDs and whatnot.

I have a Bravia XBR-55HX929 and I love it. I also was able to pick it up with an employee discount thanks to a cool old coworker whose husband used to work at Sony, so I got it for a great price, especially at the time. Especially after I calibrated it, not kidding pretty much everyone who has been over my house and sees it comments about how good the picture looks, viewing angles, etc., so yeah I think they still make excellent TV's, just as already mentioned they are very expensive.

[Ironman273]

Are Sony TVs not good anymore? I have had several Sony TVs in the 90s and early 2000s and they were really great. Of course, this was before everything went to LCDs and whatnot.

Sony ruled the TV market in the tube era with their Trinitron tubes.  They refused to jump on the LCD "bandwagon" because they thought it was a fad.  By the time they realized it wasn't a fad they were too far behind to catch up.  What they did was rebrand other LCD TVs so if you have a Sony LCD TV all you have is some other rebranded TV.  Depending on the year of the Sony TV you may have a Sharp or Samsung.  They had a joint venture with Sharp to use our panels years ago then broke it to go with Samsung but that also ended.  I think they currently use LG.  

 

Side note: I'm amazed a Japanese company would ally with a Korean company.  You don't realize how nationalistic Japanese companies are until you work for one.

[neoadorable]

Personally worried about Sony's financial situation slightly more than i am about global warming on Venus. They will be fine. Besides, i sure am doing my part to help! As someone noted to me, "is that your console attach rate or your weight in pounds?"