Blame it on the yen
Consumer electronics giant Sony has revealed its first annual loss for 14 years today, as revenues fell by nearly 13 percent.
Sony reported a loss of 98.9 billion yen (£619 million) for the year, the good news being that it had previously forecast a loss of 150 billion (£1 billion). For the 2010 financial year it's forecasting a loss of 120 billion yen (£827 million). In a bid to stem the losses, Sony also announced further consolidation of its manufacturing operations in Japan.
Sony summarised the reasons for the drop as follows: "Sales decreased and losses were recorded due to factors including the slowdown of the global economy, the appreciation of the yen and the decline in the Japanese stock market."
Sales in the electronics segment decreased 17 percent year-on-year, which was blamed primarily on the strong yen. This was also a reason for the 18 percent decrease in the game segment, although lower sales of the PS2 were also cited as a factor for some reason. The financial services segment was the one most hit by the decline in the Japanese stock market.
