Sony loses money in Q2, smartphone sales improving

Sony has been inching its way back to its former glory, but its return to profitability hit a snag in the quarter that ended this September. The company posted a loss of $197 million from a small profit the previous quarter.

The good news is that the Mobile Products & Communication – the division responsible for phones, tablets and computers – showed the biggest increase. Sales were up 39.3% year on year and operating income increased by $2.25 billion, but the division still ended the quarter $9 million in the red. Still, it's better than the $235 million operating loss from the same quarter last year.

It seems that smartphone sales improved – more units were sold at a higher average selling price (ASP) – but the PC market dragged the division down. Favorable exchange rates also helped.

The Xperia Z was in the Top 3 in revenue in 20 countries and Sony sold 10 million Xperias during the quarter. The company will continue its focus on premium devices and expects sales to remain strong going forward.

The Game division of Sony reports a 5.1% increase in sales, a total of $1.6 billion, but an operating loss of $8 million. PS2 and PS3 sales are declining (the PS2 was discontinued, the PS3 is about to be replaced by the PS4). PSP and PS Vita sales also took a hit, partly due to a price cut on the Vita.

The Imaging Products & Solutions division continues to slide, it's down -6.9% in sales and posted an operating loss of $24 million. This is attributed to a "significant decrease" in sales of digital cameras and video cameras.

Home Entertainment & Sound is also in trouble with decreasing LCD TV unit sales, but revenues increased 11.8% thanks to favorable currency exchange rates and the operating loss declined to $123 million.

Sony Pictures is in the red, Music made some cash ($99 million) and once again Financial Services was the best division of the company bringing in $400 million, a 25.7% improvement in operating income.

Check out Sony's press release for more details (note: PDF). You can also find presentation slides here.

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