Sony Q1 FY15 results: “Significant decrease” in Xperia sales; full-year forecasts lowered again

Sony Corporation reported Q1 FY15 results earlier today for the three months ended 30 June 2015. Overall, Sony reported good growth with Group Q1 operating income increasing by 39% to 97 billion yen. However, the state of the mobile division was less rosy with Sony Mobile reporting a “significant decrease in smartphone unit sales resulting from a strategic decision not to pursue scale in order to improve profitability”.

Mobile Q1 FY15 sales were down by 16% to 281 billion yen, whilst operating loss declined further to 23 billion yen (Q1 2014: loss of 2 billion yen). However, Sony did talk of an “improvement in product mix” during the quarter as the company focuses on its premium offering. Sony sold 7.2 million Xperia units during the period, a 23 percentage year-on-year reduction.

Sony has lowered its full-year forecasts too. It now expects full-year unit Xperia shipments to total 27 million (it previously guided to 30 million units). This will also lead to a reduction in sales and operating income FY15 targets too. However, Sony says that “higher than originally anticipated selling prices of smartphones” will mitigate some of this. Don’t go looking for a discount anytime soon on that brand new Xperia device you were eyeing up.

Full-year forecasts for the mobile division are lowered again

You need to go back three years to find a quarter where Sony Mobile sold less Xperia smartphones

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