Sony Reports Second Consecutive Quarterly Profit

Sony Pictures revenue up; company plans to push Google TV sets this Christmas

Sony reported its quarterly earnings on Friday, with the Japanese electronics and entertainment company reporting increased demand for some of its consumer products — including laptops, PlayStation 3s and now Move, the company’s answer to Nintendo’s Wii motion-controllers — and continued its return to growth, thanks largely to strategic cost-cutting by chief executive Howard Stringer.

Overall, Sony reported operating income of $827 million during the three months ended September 30, compared to a loss in the same period last year. Sales were up in all of Sony’s various business segments — that is, except music.

Sony said it shipped more than 1 million Move controllers in North America and Latin America during the first month.

Sony Pictures reported a 6.1 percent increase in revenue (to $1.74 billion) on the strength of some of its theatrical releases, including “Salt,” “The Karate Kid” and “The Other Guys.”

Sony reported a 10 percent drop in sales of music, mostly due to a tough quarterly comparison between this year and last, when posthumous demand for the Michael Jackson catalog was high.

The company also said it is planning a huge marketing push for its new Google TV sets during the holiday season — an effort to thwart competition from Steve Jobs' Apple TV offering.

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