Sony doubles down on PlayStation 4 as TV and smartphones falter
Targets huge revenue from PlayStation division.
In its ongoing struggle for profit, gargantuan Japanese company Sony will focus on boosting the already impressive success of the PlayStation 4 and cut its TV and mobile product lines.
In a conference to investors reported by Reuters, Sony revealed a three-year plan that involves what it predicts will be huge revenue from PlayStation 4 as well as its image sensor business.
It still hopes its flagging TV and smartphones businesses will turn a profit, Sony said, but if they do it will be despite an expected sales slide of 30 per cent.
But the real money will come from PlayStation 4, which has sold 13.5m units as of 30th September 2014. Sony said it hopes to boost sales for its video game division by a quarter to 1.6 trillion yen (£8.6bn). How will it do it? Personalised TV, video and music distribution services hiking revenue per paying user. Those PlayStation Plus subscriptions won't hurt, either.
It seems the market has responded. Reuters points out shares in Sony ended six per cent higher at the close on Tuesday.
Sony has undergone sweeping changes since Kaz Hirai, previously Sony Computer Entertainment boss, took the top job at the company in April 2012.
Its suffered huge losses in recent years, and recently quadrupled the amount of money it expects to lose this financial year in a profit warning it blamed on its Xperia smartphones business.
It's down to PlayStation, then. Good luck!