Sony to post $658 million loss for 4th quarter.

Brimstone · Apr 22, 2005

Sony, the world's second-largest consumer electronics maker, will probably post a 70.3 billion yen ($658 million) loss in the quarter ended March 31, the biggest in two years, compared with an 38.2 billion yen loss the year earlier, according to the median forecast of eight analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The Tokyo-based company reports on April 27.
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Amazing, even after trying to stop the losses they have grown greater.

Samsung is flying high these days, and the word is Samsung is far ahead on R & D with the carbon nano-tube T.V.'s that are on the horizon. Where did Japanese leadership with consumer electronics go?

London Geezer · Apr 22, 2005

Brimstone said:

Sony, the world's second-largest consumer electronics maker, will probably post a 70.3 billion yen ($658 million) loss in the quarter ended March 31, the biggest in two years, compared with an 38.2 billion yen loss the year earlier, according to the median forecast of eight analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The Tokyo-based company reports on April 27.
Click to expand...

Amazing, even after trying to stop the losses they have grown greater.

Samsung is flying high these days, and the word is Samsung is far ahead on R & D with the carbon nano-tube T.V.'s that are on the horizon. Where did Japanese leadership with consumer electronics go?
Click to expand...

Heh, Japan has been going down slowly for the last few years, economically and in terms of technological growth. That said, they're not going backwards, they've just slowed down a little. Considering how far ahead they have been in the last few decades, i think they can afford a down period. Much like the US at the moment.

Teasy · Apr 22, 2005

Sony sold 1.45 million PSP's in the last quarter (750,000 in Japan and 700,000 for the US launch). So I doubt PSP is the only reason for the 85% higher 4th quarter losses this year. Not unless Sony are losing just over $200 per PSP sold anyway, which is quite unlikely

passerby · Apr 22, 2005

An easy place to spot where the money is lost.

Sony TVs.

Where I am, any Sony LCD or Plasma TV costs at least >50% more than an equivalent competitor - Samsung, LG. etc. Considering the costs of such items, that is a LOT of difference.

No one in his/her right mind will pick a Sony model. No one. Except for the multi-millionaires who hand out hundred dollar tips.

Sony is dead in that department.

London Geezer · Apr 22, 2005

passerby said:

An easy place to spot where the money is lost.

Sony TVs.

Where I am, any Sony LCD or Plasma TV costs at least >50% more than an equivalent competitor - Samsung, LG. etc. Considering the costs of such items, that is a LOT of difference.

No one in his/her right mind will pick a Sony model. No one. Except for the multi-millionaires who hand out hundred dollar tips.

Sony is dead in that department.
Click to expand...

Actually there are MANY non-millionaires who fall for the "It's a Sony" brainwashing.
The Sony name still sells a lot just by itself, but i think they're pushing their luck.

(this is coming from someone who would just like it if Sony started selling their products at acceptable prices, which for me is Â£50 for a 46" Plasma screen, and maybe i can squeeze Â£15 for a PSP. If i don't eat for 2 days. Not asking too much is it)

marconelly! · Apr 22, 2005

No one in his/her right mind will pick a Sony model. No one. Except for the multi-millionaires who hand out hundred dollar tips.
Click to expand...

I agree that their displays are more expensive, but man when I saw that new HSD-HS95P LCD monitor, my heart just skipped, abd I hardly even cared about the price anymore. That thing has picture quality that I've never seen on an LCD display, and I've really seen tons of recent models. Even the very expensive Apple Cinema display pales in comaprision. I had to buy it right then and there

Carl B · Apr 22, 2005

Brimstone said:

Sony, the world's second-largest consumer electronics maker, will probably post a 70.3 billion yen ($658 million) loss in the quarter ended March 31, the biggest in two years, compared with an 38.2 billion yen loss the year earlier, according to the median forecast of eight analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The Tokyo-based company reports on April 27.
Click to expand...

Amazing, even after trying to stop the losses they have grown greater.

Samsung is flying high these days, and the word is Samsung is far ahead on R & D with the carbon nano-tube T.V.'s that are on the horizon. Where did Japanese leadership with consumer electronics go?
Click to expand...

This loss is not uber-bleak in terms of the larger picture. For example, Sony's profit last quarter of ~$1.4 billion is about $400 million higher than in the year ago period. So this quarter, what we're seeing is a loss also greater than in the year ago period. Hard to say what's going on over there; certainly the swings are getting larger it seems, my guess is due as much to box-office blockbusters and the respective lack thereof, but whatever the case, I'm sure no one at Sony or any financial firm was expecting this quarter to end in a profit.

As for Samsung, I do agree with you that they are ascendent, but we'll see how far they climb - I actually feel that they are stalling recently. I'm a Samsung cell phone buyer exclusively for years now, and their recent models just don't compel me when compared to their competition like they used to. Still, I'm hoping this year will see a release worht buying.

As for the nano-tube tv's, certainly that's one direction people see the future of tv's going, but OLED (which I think Samsung is actually a leader in as well), and SED (in which the Japanese are leading) are other competing formats on the horizon.

Ty · Apr 22, 2005

marconelly! said:

I agree that their displays are more expensive, but man when I saw that new HSD-HS95P LCD monitor, my heart just skipped, abd I hardly even cared about the price anymore. That thing has picture quality that I've never seen on an LCD display, and I've really seen tons of recent models. Even the very expensive Apple Cinema display pales in comaprision. I had to buy it right then and there
Click to expand...

Wait till you see the new Qualia TV with LED backlighting. That should be pretty darn good looking. Mind you LED backlighting has a ways to go till it can compete with CCFL but it's coming slowly. (LED backlighting is still an expensive premium, and has a HUGE power draw - which in turns adds a ton of heat). They need to move to duty cycle or strobed.

one · Apr 27, 2005

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000006&sid=aJugSFj_4VIo&refer=home

Sony's 4th-Qtr Loss Smaller Than Expected on PlayStation Sales

April 27 (Bloomberg) -- Sony Corp., the world's second- biggest consumer electronics maker, had a smaller-than-expected loss in the fourth quarter on sales of its PlayStation Portable handheld gaming console and lower costs for cutting jobs.

The net loss in the quarter ended March 31 widened to 56.5 billion yen ($532 million), or 59.40 yen a share, from 38.2 billion yen, or 41.23 yen, a year earlier, the Tokyo-based company said in a statement. The median estimate in a survey of eight analysts by Bloomberg was for a 70.3 billion yen loss. Profit will drop 51 percent this fiscal year on falling prices of televisions and DVD recorders, the company said.

Sony today forecast shipments this fiscal year of 12 million PSPs after the consoles sold out on the first day of sale in Japan in December. Chief Executive Howard Stringer, appointed in March, is relying on new products to revive earnings as competitors such as Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple Computer Inc. cut prices to grab market share.

``The PSP is an interesting product,'' said Pascal Masse, who helps manage $12 billion of Asian equities at Aberdeen Management Asia Ltd. in Singapore. ``Would that help Sony's earnings? It could. But would it save Sony? I think it's an exaggeration.''

Sales were at 1.7 trillion yen from 1.77 trillion yen a year earlier, the company said. Operating loss, or sales minus the cost of goods sold and administrative expenses, shrank to 77.4 billion yen from 109.8 billion yen. Analysts expected sales of 1.67 trillion yen and an 81.3 billion yen operating loss.

For the year started April 1, Sony forecasts net income of 80 billion yen.

The company's German-traded shares rose 2.8 percent to 29.14 euro at 6 p.m. Tokyo time, after a 2.3 percent gain on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The results came after the Japan market closed.

`iPod Killer'

The PlayStation Portable, Sony's first foray into the handheld video game industry dominated by Nintendo Co., has been dubbed a possible ``iPod killer'' by analysts such as Koya Tabata at Credit Suisse First Boston in Tokyo. The device can play music and movie files and future versions will allow users to surf select Web sites to download music and other content, Sony said.

In the first week of U.S. sales in March, the company sold more than 500,000 units of the handheld gadget, which came with a copy of Sony Picture Entertainment's ``Spider-Man 2'' movie, at $250 each. The company has shipped 2.97 million PSP units at the end of quarter, today's report showed, compared with 1.18 million units at the end of February.

The video games business had a 1.49 billion yen operating profit in the fiscal fourth quarter from a loss of 6.89 billion yen, the company said.

Lower Charges

Stringer, 63, has said he will follow through with a three- year, 330 billion yen cost-cutting plan introduced in October 2003 by his predecessor Nobuyuki Idei and former President Kunitake Ando.

The company took a 90 billion yen charge on restructuring costs in the year ended March 31, less than the 100 billion yen it had forecast earlier in the year, because it overestimated how much it would have to pay people seeking early retirement. Sony expects to take a 72 billion yen charge for restructuring this fiscal year, the company said.

In the division, ``sales are expected to grow thanks to sales of the PSP and software,'' said Katsumi Ihara, Sony's chief financial officer, at a media conference in Tokyo today. ``There will be higher research and development costs for the next generation game console, which will leave operating income little changed this fiscal year.''

Margins Squeezed

Sony has outperformed Japan's stock indexes since March 7, when the company named Stringer the company's first non-Japanese chief executive, and Ryoji Chubachi, 57, as president. Sony's 3.2 percent decline compares with a 7.7 percent drop on the Nikkei 225 Stock Average and 6.1 percent fall in the Topix Index.

Shares of Sony, which invented the Walkman in 1979, have dropped 76 percent from a record high on March 1, 2000. Samsung earned 17 times more than Sony per employee during the 2003 business year, according to Bloomberg data. Apple earned about 4.5 times more than Sony.

``Across Asia, consumer electronics makers are increasingly facing a margin compression because of rising competition and price-cuts to lure more customers,'' said Praveen Choudhary, a technology analyst at Morgan Stanley in Singapore. ``Whether the companies can overcome this general trend depends on whether they can increase volume and introduce new products.''

Sony's electronics business, which makes Wega televisions and Vaio computers, had a 99.4 billion yen loss from a 129.3 billion yen loss a year ago.

The electronics unit may make a loss for a third year, said Ihara. Prices of liquid-crystal displays TVs fell 20 percent to 30 percent last fiscal year, while prices of DVD recorders slid 40 percent, he said. Prices for digital cameras dropped about 10 percent.

`Wow'

For the full year, net income rose 85 percent to 163.8 billion yen profit. Sales dropped 4.5 percent to 7.16 trillion yen. Sony plans to raise capital investments this fiscal year by 15 percent to 410 billion yen, which includes 160 billion yen on semiconductors, today's report showed.

Operating profit at the movie unit fell 63 percent to 13.7 billion yen, and the music business reported an operating loss of 2.63 billion yen, narrowing from 9.13 billion yen a year ago.

``Sony's problem is the lack of innovation and lack of change,'' said Chip Zhu, who manages a $58 million technology fund at Gartmore Global Investments in West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. ``In the last few years, I have not seen a product that has jumped out and said `Wow.'''
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http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=businessNews&storyID=8309003

Sony Profit Up 15 Pct
Wed Apr 27, 2005 03:29 AM ET

TOKYO (Reuters) - Sony Corp. posted a 15 percent rise in annual operating profit on Wednesday as a solid performance in its pictures and music divisions outweighed losses in its core electronics unit, and the company forecast a 40 percent gain in profit this year.

The consumer electronics and entertainment conglomerate said its group operating profit totaled 113.92 billion yen ($1.07 billion) in the year ended March 31, above the average of 22 forecasts compiled by Reuters Estimates that called for 109 billion yen.

Sony's earnings were lifted by the hit-movie "Spider-Man 2" and a return to profitability by its music division. Its financial division also posted a small rise in operating profit for the year.

The company said it expected operating profit to rise 40 percent to 160 billion yen for the current business year started this month, roughly in line with the consensus of 164 billion yen. Sony sees sales up 4 percent at 7.45 trillion yen.

But sliding product prices are weighing on margins in Sony's core electronics division and analysts say its production structure is less efficient than rivals Sharp Corp. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., which are better at controlling costs because they make more of their own key parts.

Sony, the inventor of the Walkman, is also struggling to regain its footing in the portable audio market, having been edged out by Apple Computer's popular iPod digital music player and its iTunes online music store.

The company said its electronics division, which accounts for roughly two-thirds of group revenues, posted an operating loss of 34.3 billion yen in 2004/05 due to sliding prices of DVD recorders, televisions and video cameras.

Speaking to reporters, Sony Executive Deputy President Katsumi Ihara also told reporters that the electronics unit would likely lose money in 2005/06 for the third straight year.

Ihara also said it would be difficult for Sony to achieve its target of a group operating profit margin of 10 percent in 2006/07 and that new management would reconsider its earnings targets after a shareholder meeting in June.

Sony is now in the third year of a three-year restructuring plan aimed at slashing 330 billion yen in fixed costs. It is also investing heavily in chips and other key components that would allow it to better control costs and add value to its products.

Sony said restructuring charges came to 90 billion yen in 2004/05, down from 168 billion yen in the previous year.

Last month, Sony named Howard Stringer its new chief executive and Ryoji Chubachi its next president. If approved by shareholders in June, Stringer, now head of the U.S. operations, would become Sony's first non-Japanese CEO.

Shares in Sony fell 2.1 percent in the previous business year, outperforming Japan's electric machinery index IELEC, which lost 7.36 percent.

Ahead of the announcement, the shares rose 2.31 percent to 3,990 yen, versus a fall of 0.25 percent in the sector index.
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McFly · Apr 27, 2005

http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/financial/fr/index.html

Key details for the gaming division:

PS2 hardware

Hardware
Japan: 20.710.000 St.
Nordamerika: 35.350.000 St.
Europa: 31.410.000 St.

TOTAL: 87.470.000 St.

Software
Japan: 168.000.000 St.
Nordamerika: 381.000.000 St.
Europa: 275.000.000 St.

TOTAL: 824.000.000 St.

PSP Hardware
Japan: 1.440.000 St.
Nordamerika: 1.530.000 St.

TOTAL: 2.970.000 St.

Software
Japan: 2.700.000 St.
Nordamerika: 3.000.000 St.

TOTAL: 5.700.000 St.

Fredi

London Geezer · Apr 27, 2005

McFly said:

Key details for the gaming division:

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Wow they expect to ship 12M PSPs and 12M PS2 in the next financial year...

Squeak · Apr 27, 2005

Citrous said:

but this device will create a wireless revolution.

Imagine if you will that one only one person in every 4 or 5 households manages to get one. Now realize the potential of the wireless network formed by such sweeping proliferation. The PSP is the true beginning of the wireless net.
Click to expand...

That could have had even greater potential if SCEE had but in a cell phone radio and a touch screen, and possibly a HD, instead if the battery sucking, space taking, slow loading, not so great capacity, fragile UMD drive.

London Geezer · Apr 27, 2005

Squeak said:

Citrous said:

but this device will create a wireless revolution.

Imagine if you will that one only one person in every 4 or 5 households manages to get one. Now realize the potential of the wireless network formed by such sweeping proliferation. The PSP is the true beginning of the wireless net.
Click to expand...

That could have had even greater potential if SCEE had but in a cell phone radio and a touch screen, and possibly a HD, instead if the battery sucking, space taking, slow loading, not so great capacity, fragile UMD drive.
Click to expand...

Heh, easy for you to say, but how would you play games on it? Downloads? Errr...

MrSingh · Apr 27, 2005

Ty said:

Wait till you see the new Qualia TV with LED backlighting. That should be pretty darn good looking. Mind you LED backlighting has a ways to go till it can compete with CCFL but it's coming slowly. (LED backlighting is still an expensive premium, and has a HUGE power draw - which in turns adds a ton of heat). They need to move to duty cycle or strobed.
Click to expand...

the Qualia LCD monitors/TVs are stupidly beautiful... but there's no way I'd pay 4000USD for a 23" computer monitor or 10,000USD for a 42" TV.

Squeak · Apr 27, 2005

london-boy said:

Squeak said:

Citrous said:

but this device will create a wireless revolution.

Imagine if you will that one only one person in every 4 or 5 households manages to get one. Now realize the potential of the wireless network formed by such sweeping proliferation. The PSP is the true beginning of the wireless net.
Click to expand...

That could have had even greater potential if SCEE had but in a cell phone radio and a touch screen, and possibly a HD, instead if the battery sucking, space taking, slow loading, not so great capacity, fragile UMD drive.
Click to expand...

Heh, easy for you to say, but how would you play games on it? Downloads? Errr...
Click to expand...

Yes like iTunes, or on duo stick ROMs.

aaaaa00 · Apr 27, 2005

MrSingh said:

the Qualia LCD monitors/TVs are stupidly beautiful... but there's no way I'd pay 4000USD for a 23" computer monitor or 10,000USD for a 42" TV.
Click to expand...

Especially not when you can get an awesome Dell 24" LCD 1920x1200 for $1200 ($~900 if you can find discounts).

London Geezer · Apr 27, 2005

Squeak said:

Heh, easy for you to say, but how would you play games on it? Downloads? Errr...
Click to expand...

Yes like iTunes, or on duo stick ROMs.[/quote]

Then what? Buy a new MS DUO for each game you download? At slightly less than 2GB? Yeah that's a good idea...

Or re-download everytime you want to play?! Even better!!

Phil · Apr 27, 2005

Squeak said:

Yes like iTunes, or on duo stick ROMs.
Click to expand...

Not that I don't see something like this coming eventually - but IMO it's clearly a no-solution at the moment, since

- not everyone is interested in downloading content they pay for
- not everyone has the bandwidth to download gigabytes of data *just like that*
- what happens when the harddrive breaks?
- piracy is a big concern, especially since a service like this will be cracked eventually
- 3rd partyies wouldn't like it because of the above 4 reasons
- because 3rd parties won't like it, less support = less reason to buy one

at the end, you're stuck with a niche product even though a harddrive would have sounded great. The iPod excells in that, because it's targeting exactly those people that download music - which is a big market. But that's not quite the only market Sony is targeting with PSP...

MrSingh · May 10, 2005

aaaaa00 said:

MrSingh said:

the Qualia LCD monitors/TVs are stupidly beautiful... but there's no way I'd pay 4000USD for a 23" computer monitor or 10,000USD for a 42" TV.
Click to expand...

Especially not when you can get an awesome Dell 24" LCD 1920x1200 for $1200 ($~900 if you can find discounts).
Click to expand...

Oh yes.. I got one of those instead.

Fafalada · May 10, 2005

Especially not when you can get an awesome Dell 24"
Click to expand...

Stop teasing - I'm still waiting for the bloody thing to be released in Korea

Sony to post $658 million loss for 4th quarter.

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