Sony Imaging Posts Loss for Third Straight Fiscal Year

Sony Imaging Posts Loss for Third Straight Fiscal Year

Sony, a company I think many of us really want to succeed in the imaging space, posted their fiscal year results that ended March 31, 2014. The company reported a $1.29 billion loss overall with the imaging division down 2% over last year, the third straight year of losses for the division.

According to the financial data released today, Sony's Imaging division "sales decreased 2.0% year-on-year (a 16% decrease on a constant currency basis) to 741.2 billion yen (7,196 million U.S. dollars)."

The operating income did increase slightly, from 24.9 billion yen year-on-year to 26.3 billion yen (256 million U.S. dollars). However, this wasn't due to anything directly in the company's control and is attributed mainly "the favorable impact of foreign exchange rates and a decrease in restructuring charges."

So what's the deal? Sony is reporting that a continued decrease in sales of video cameras is to blame for the losses, and their still cameras aren't doing enough to stem the tide.

That said, in prior years the losses have been far more catastrophic. In 2011, imaging saw a loss of over 38%, so at least the losses are becoming less dramatic. The data doesn't go into specific camera models, but we might be able to extrapolate that the a7 and a7R (among their other cameras) might have sold well enough to keep the losses to a minimum.

Still, Sony is reporting that they don't expect sales and operating revenue to improve over the next year, stating they actually expect them to continue to drop at least another 4%, again pointing to slumping video camera sales.

Overall segment sales are expected to decrease mainly due to a significant decrease in sales of video cameras. Operating income is expected to increase primarily due to a decrease in costs, partially offset by the decrease in sales.

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Jaron Schneider is an Fstoppers Contributor and an internationally published writer and cinematographer from San Francisco, California. His clients include Maurice Lacroix, HD Supply, SmugMug, the USAF Thunderbirds and a host of industry professionals.

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25 Comments

The only thing making money for Sony right now is PlayStation.

Sony is also an insurance company - that's where they make their main money with.

Sony Motion Pictures and Sony Music are also doing pretty well.

In my opinion they release way too many cameras and different mounts. As customer I would be pretty unsure and afraid that the Sony system I would invest to wouldn't be supported in the next few years anymore. Maybe they should change their strategy to less different systems but more lenses.

Couldn't agree more. That's the entire reason I'd be scared of getting into an α7. I'm worried about them discontinuing that line like they've done with others and no longer producing lenses / new bodies for that mount.

very true, but I'd be more concerned about A-mount being discontinued. Just imagine all the bad publicity that it will bring

They need to phase out their video cameras. So many people are buying still cameras with incredible video capabilities because it's one thing to buy (and later carry) instead of two. And they need to seriously improve their still cameras. Back in the day, I worked for Ritz Camera and their point and shoot digital cameras had the most ridiculous menus that were not at all user friendly. I don't know if they have improved, but the last time I looked at one they had not. Either way, they have too many mounts and it's a PITA to deal with.

$1.29 billion loss and they are still able to function? How much money DO they have to be able to do that? If they dropped the imaging market, what would Nikon do? I think I'd be a bit concerned if I were Nikon.....

Their other businesses compensated somewhat to the loss. Sony has a little known unit outside of Japan that sells insurance, it's incredibly successful and lucrative. All told they lost only 430m for the 12 months ending March 31.
They state that loss is attributed to one time restructuring costs, which include shutting down their PC(Vaio) unit at a loss of 3b.
PS4 sold incredibly well.
Their net revenue actually increased from -72m last year to +266m and their debt to cash ration is below industry, which is a great sign Kazuo is turning the company around.

They shut down Vaio?!? Oh no!!! Where will I go to when I want overpriced laptops now?

Apple Doh!

They can lose that amount for a while before anything is sold off or additional capital is needed. See the 6-K filing here: http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/313838/000115752314002159/a508636... The conversion is 1 Yen = about .01 $US. SONY is diversified, and it will eventually turn around or it will sell off pieces of the company.

The big problem is that photo sales are not in a growth phase. Cameras get better, lenses get cheaper, and software allows us to do more, but the public doesn't give a crap about anything other than the green button on their camera. All those knobs and settings are for professionals or old guys like me who know, with the exception of the annual family photo albums (so the kids will remember the good times and don't think I was such an ass after all) everything else will get tossed when I die.

Cellphones are to blame! I think they also know that.

Cellphones have a lot to answer for, not least for what people now accept as an "great photograph". People are willing to accept almost anything as a good, when most professionals would have tossed it as trash without sparing it a second glance. How many blurry, out of focus, poorly composed wedding photographs have I seen that have been touted by customers as fantastic from "photographers" who quite frankly have no place in the business? I've lost count..... Even as an amateur photographer I know when to hit the delete key. They don't understand why I have my head in my hands when I look at the images, and neither do they know that they have been robbed blind.....

But if they are happy with their photos, the photos have accomplished exactly what was required of them. Expectations have been met.

I'll never understand why they could not use the A mount on the mirrorless cameras? Especially now that they have full frame versions. I'm sure there was a reason....but it escapes me.

The A-mounts are designed for DSLRs, while the E-mounts are for mirrorless systems.

The amount lenses are designed to compensate for the distance between the rear lens element to the sensor, which is occupied by a mirror box. The mirrorless systems don't have that distance and so new lens designs have to be made for the new distance. The reason adapters work is because they extend the lens to sensor just enough to compensate.

Because the whole point of the mirrorless line is to reduce size and weight? At least there are adapters if you want to use your A mount lenses (or even other brands') on your E mount bodies.

It appears the loss in the Imaging section is well offset by the Mobile & Communication Products segment; maybe Sony's smart phones with 1080p are hurting the Imaging segment? Why spend $1k+ on a camcorder when you got the convenience of your cell phone?

The Imaging segment increase their Operating Income by cutting their operational costs...

Because the cell phone video quality is clearly equivalent to dedicated camcorder quality (I'm being sarcastic fyi).

cheaper camcorders aren't much better that iphone, and people have little clue how to use them. At the end of the day A7 is probably the best consumer camcorder that they make. The should just discontinue most cheap compacts and camcorders, leaving an easy to understand and simple product line.

Who needs one more digital camera that will be yesterday's news in a month or two? Are companies not aware of that? Maybe they should wait until there's a major innovation step forward, or actually come up with something groundbreaking.

Everybody camera manufacturer is having the same issues.

http://nikonrumors.com/2014/05/17/nikon-misses-financial-forecast-stock-...

I hope they got better? I am a new Sony convert. The a7r is way way better than my Nikon D800. I sold everything Nikon for Sony.