Sony Posts Weak Q4 Results News

Sony Corp today surprised financial analysers across the globe with earnings results far below its targets and warned of trickier times ahead.<br><br>Sony Corp posted losses of 111.4billion yen (~£582million) in the final quarter of the Japanese fiscal year, compared with a loss of 5.5billion (~£25million) in the same period a year before. It’s claimed that the loss was about three times greater then what leading financial experts were planning.<br><br>The company blamed a declining market in electronic goods and the problems facing its music division, however more importantly it expects Playstation2 sales to decrease for the first time in the upcoming year. Leading experts have claimed that the PS2 has hit its peak and are concerned that its successor is too far away, scheduled for release sometime in 2005/06.<br><br>The weak finish to the final year overshadowed an otherwise impressive year for Sony Corp, buoyed by the success of the Playstation2 and movie hits such as ‘Spiderman’ and ‘MIB2’, the largest consumer electronic manufacturer posted full fiscal year earnings of 115.5billion yen (~£605million).<br><br>Experts went onto claim that with no movie hits in the pipeline and a decreasing market share for the Playstation2 could lead to a tricky time for Sony Corp, who has recently undergone an aggressive streamlining process.<br><br>To reduce the company's reliance on games and movies, Sony have recently confirmed that they would spend 1.3 trillion yen (£6.7 billion) over the next three years to improve production of semiconductors and other devices and to take a variety of cost-cutting steps.