Sony poised to hit record profits in wake of gaming strategy
Japan’s Sony is projecting record annual profits after riding a wave of demand for several of its most popular recent big-hit games.
The technology giant raised its profit forecast by 30 per cent to ¥870bn (£6bn) this morning, with a boom in its Playstation division helping to offset widening mobile phone losses.
Such positive projections come in the wake of Sony’s wider shift to focus on its gaming arm, which has proved to be less susceptible to the swings in earnings than its traditional consumer electronics market.
The hiked expectations mark the second consecutive year in which Sony is set to break its own profit records.
Bumper sales for a swathe of new games are forecasted to generate ¥310bn, in what is set to be the firm’s biggest profit driver.
In April Sony’s action-adventure game “God of War” sold 3.1m copies in the first three days of its release, setting a record that was broken several months later when “Marvel’s Spider-Man” sold 3.3m in its first three days.
Meanwhile, the company’s Red Dead Redemption II, which was released to the market last week, is also expected to deliver strong sales on the back of stellar reviews.
Following the raised expectations Sony also revealed $5.3bn (£4.1bn) plans to invest in image sensors over the next three years as it looks to corner the growing market for autonomous vehicles.