Sony Corporation reported its strongest second quarter operating income till date with a 16 per cent increase year-on-year against the same period last year, which was attributed to its robust image sensor sales. The recent second quarter results also raised Sony’s full-year earnings outlook.
Concluding 30 September 2019, the recorded operating income for Q2 2019 was US$2.59 billion (¥279 billion) up by 16 per cent from US$2.23 billion (¥239.5 billion) in Q2 2018. The consolidated operating income forecast for FY19 is expected to increase by US$278 million (¥30 billion) to US$7.78 billion (¥840 billion) from an earlier estimate of US$7.5 billion (¥810 billion). Meanwhile, the sales and operating revenue for Q2 2019 recorded a slight decline of 3%, amounting to US$19.76 billion (¥2.122 trillion) against US$20.32 billion (¥2.18 trillion) from the same period last year.
The significant increase was mostly driven by growth in operating income in the Imaging & Sensing Solutions (I&SS) segment to the tune of 59 per cent year-on-year to US$711 million (¥76.4 billion), while it reported a 22 per cent rise year-on-year in sales to US$2.89 billion (¥310 billion). With the growth of multi-camera set-ups, Sony is providing smartphone manufacturers with imaging sensors for their products that primarily contributed to an increase in unit sales and improvement in product mix, resulting in better second quarter results.
“Here in the Middle East & Africa region, we are confidently moving into the yearend peak sales season with a solid array of industry leading products in the digital imaging, television and audio products categories. The introduction of powerful full frame mirrorless cameras α9II and α7RIV as well as the compact RX100 VII has helped Sony retain our leadership in the high-end of the camera market. BRAVIA 8K LED TVs and new range of OLED TVs lead new product introductions in the very competitive televisions market. The much-acclaimed truly wireless WF-1000XM3 noise cancelling earbuds continues to show very strong demand. With these product offerings, I am certain we fill finish the year on a very strong note.” said Takakiyo Fujita, Managing Director, Sony Middle East and Africa.
