Sony Losses Explode Over Mobile Phone Woes

Japanese electronics giant Sony has reported a whopping net loss for the July to September period on weaker-than-expected results in emerging markets. It said its smartphone business fared worst.



Sony announced Friday it booked a 136-billion-yen ($1.22-billion, 955-million-euro) loss in the July to September quarter, marking a 116.3-billion-yen increase from the same period a year earlier.



The announcement came after the company had lowered its annual earnings outlook, revealing it would lose a staggering 230 billion yen in the current fiscal year to March 2015.



The Tokyo-based maker of the PlayStation4 and Xperia smartphones provided a silver lining by reporting a 7-percent rise in quarterly sales to 1.9 trillion yen as performance picked up in cameras, TVs and game businesses.



Fierce competition



But Sony admitted that its smartphone operations remained the company's Achilles' heel particularly in emerging markets where it battled global rivals, including Samsung and Apple.



Fellow Japanese electronics firm Sharp also reported an 18.3-percent drop in quarterly operating profit, leaving it with 24.5 billion yen in the black, though, and struggling to meet full-year targets.



Sony, Sharp and Panasonic are all undergoing huge restructuring programs to become more competitive. A steep drop in the yen has been a lifeline by inflating the value of profits repatriated from overseas. But analysts warn the impact of the weak currency is fading, arguing the industry heavyweights had more work to do to reinvent themselves.



hg/ng (AFP, AP, dpa)