Sony lowered its full-year profit outlook from $509 million to $305 million in an announcement during its second-quarter earnings release Thursday.
The reason Sony lowered its outlook was losses in the recent quarter from July to September ballooned 25 percent to $197 million compared to the period a year ago. The company said this was due to the poor performance of its movies and TV shows in the pictures division, which includes Columbia Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
“The current quarter reflects the theatrical underperformance of White House Down, while the previous fiscal year included the strong theatrical performance of the Amazing Spider-Man,” the firm said in a statement. “The Amazing Spider-Man” grossed over $490 million worldwide in theaters last year, and Sony also licensed fewer movies and television shows this year.
The overall global decline in TV shipments hurt the company as well. Sony’s TV division lost $94 million during the third quarter.
However, Sony’s rivals in the TV businesses Sharp Corp. and Panasonic Corp. reported profits. Unlike Sony, however, each company is shifting its focus to industrial businesses. Sharp stated it is exploring solar cell manufacturing, and Panasonic recently announced a near $7 billion deal with Tesla Motors Inc. to supply electric vehicle batteries.
The gaming division also showed operating losses of $8.14 million in the second quarter, after cutting PlayStation Vita prices to boost sales.
