Sony Spies a Turnaround

The PlayStation 3 may not have been a blockbuster in the quarter, but brisk holiday sales of its digital cameras and flat-panel TVs saved the day for Sony.

Sales in the electronics segment grew 17% year on year, on the basis of a strong showing by its Bravia LCD televisions and Cyber-shot digital cameras.

"Cameras are really high-margin devices," says Kariithi. "They probably are the highest-margin devices that Sony sells. Strong sales there helped Sony."

Inventory levels, as of the quarter's end, increased 42.2% to 851.7 billion yen compared with the same time a year ago because of an increase in LCD television inventory and inventory of semiconductors for the PS3, Sony said.

In the game segment, after the launch of the PS3 in North America and Japan, sales increased 5.6% vs. same quarter of the previous year.

Unit sales of PS2 showed a small reduction from the same quarter year before, and revenue greatly decreased because of price reductions, said Sony. The company shipped 4.1 million units of the PS2 during the quarter, a decrease of 1.25 million units.

PSP sales declined by 4.46 million units to 1.76 million units during the quarter. Sony shipped 1.84 million units of the PS3.

In contrast, Sony Pictures was a bright spot. The segment performed strongly with a 46.8% revenue increase to $2.5 billion attributable to higher DVD revenue led by films such as The Da Vinci Code and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, said Sony.

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