Sony Corp. forecast a full-year loss for the second year in a row, because of the global recession. The electronics giant has been forced to reduce prices on its Bravia TVs and its popular Cyber-shot cameras. For the fiscal year ending March 31 the company reports a a projected $1.26 billion net loss. This is the first time since 1958 that the company has had losses two years in a row.
Sony's first back-to-back annual losses since listing in 1958 may test Chief Executive Officer Howard Stringer's focus on cost reductions instead of investing in new products. While job cuts and plant closures may help the company save 250 billion yen in costs this year, the maker of the PlayStation 3 lags behind Nintendo Co. in game-console shipments and trails Samsung Electronics Co. in television sales.
"They were hit fairly early by the downturn and have moved quicker than some competitors to restructure, but it remains to be seen if those moves will pay off," said Hideyuki Ookoshi, who helps oversee $365 million at Chiba-Gin Asset Management in Tokyo. "The problem with Sony is it doesn't know what it wants to be: Is it a game company, a consumer-electronics maker, a financial-services provider? There's no direction."
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In the games division, Sony posted a loss of 58.5 billion yen. The business will probably incur a fourth straight deficit, as sales of the PS3 and PlayStation Portable machines continue to trail the popularity of Nintendo's products, according to the analyst survey.
Sony forecast today it will sell 13 million PS3 machines, compared with the 26 million Wii consoles that Nintendo is projecting.
Sony also saw profits in its film division fall. The division produced such films as Hancock and Quantum of Solace. Profits fell 49 percent last year mostly because home entertainment sales were down as consumers buy fewer DVDs.
Sony Corp. 
