Camera chips for phones and sales of PS4 consoles boost Sony’s profit
Tokyo — Sony’s quarterly profit topped analyst estimates, thanks to demand for smartphone camera chips, a healthy music business and brisk sales of PlayStation 4 consoles and games. Operating profit was ¥157,6bn ($1.4bn) in the fiscal first quarter that ended in June, beating analysts’ average projection for ¥133.3bn. Net income was ¥80.9bn, exceeding the prediction for ¥66.5bn. After a tumultuous year that included an earthquake that crippled camera-chip production, and a $1bn write-down in films, the latest quarter is a return to stability for CEO Kazuo Hirai. The increasing number of PlayStation 4 owners is driving sales of software and online services, while smartphone makers adopt more camera chips per device and more people pay to stream music. Investors are betting that more predictable, stable profits will deliver buybacks and higher dividends. "PS4 continues to grow, which allows them to sell more games, while recurring revenue from their PlayStation Network is hitting full...
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