Sony has announced its earnings for the financial year 2015, and the vendor has recorded its largest increase in profit since 2007. Net profit increased by 666.7% to ¥304.5 billion ($ 2.7 billion), and operating profit shot up 329% to ¥294.2 billion ($ 2.6 billion). The spurt in profits is due to continued demand for the PlayStation 4, with the games division witnessing an 84.3% increase in operating income to ¥88.7 billion ($ 785 million) and a 11% increase in sales netting ¥1.5 trillion ($ 13.2 billion).
Revenue was down 1.3% to ¥8.1 trillion ($ 71.6 billion), which is largely attributed to falling sales in the smartphone segment. Sales from the mobile division declined by 20% as Sony took “a strategic decision not to pursue scale in order to improve profitability.” Revenue from the mobile division was at ¥1.1 trillion ($ 9.7 billion), with an operating loss of ¥61.4 billion ($ 544 million).
Sony’s image sensor division also failed to live up to expectations, posting an operating loss of ¥28.6 billion ($ 253 million) on account of a ¥59.6 billion ($ 528 million) impairment charge. Sony’s imaging sensors are used in most flagships available today, and the manufacturer was setting its sights on this division for long-term growth. That doesn’t look likely anymore, as Sony is now forecasting a decline in demand for its camera modules.
In the camera division, operating profit rose 72.7% to ¥72.1 billion ($ 638 million), with revenue declining by 1.7% to ¥711.2 billion ($ 6.29 billion). Sony was able to offset the declining revenue by focusing on the high-end models in the camera segment.
Sony is also postponing its quarterly earnings forecast to May following recent earthquakes in Kumamoto, where the vendor has a semiconductor plant and imaging sensor production facility.