Sony Quadruples Annual Net Losses as Smartphone Sales Shrink

Shares of Sony are tumbling on Wednesday after the Japanese tech company warned of far deeper losses for the full year than previously expected. Over the 12 months to March 2015, Sony forecasts a 230 billion Yen net loss, equivalent to around $2.15 billion. That latest guidance is more than quadruple a previous forecast loss of 50 billion Yen. As a result, the company cancelled scheduled dividends this fiscal year, the first time since going public in 1958 that it will not issue a dividend payment. Sony's woes stem back to suffering sales and increasingly cutthroat competition facing its smartphone unit.