Sony Corp. reported a record profit of nearly $19.6 billion in revenue for its second quarter ending Sept. 30. Of this, $2.2 billion was all profit, driving the Japanese multinational conglomerate to almost triple its profit outlook for the fiscal year through March to $7.72 billion.
PlayStation products accounted for almost $5 billion in revenue, with PlayStation Plus subscriptions reaching a record high. The professional electronics, gaming, entertainment, and financial services ended September with 34.3 million subscribers, up from 33.9 million last quarter and 34.2 million over the prior six months.
Fortnite also brought in massive profits during the summer months.
Sony Pictures also contributed profit of nearly $208 million which was at three times more than the profit from the same period in 2017. The strong profit could be attributed to the global box office of Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation and licensing cash for Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Peter Rabbit.
The company's financial services also delivered increased profits to as much as 27 percent. Its semiconductor business delivered gains up by 11 percent.
With all these, Sony Corp. upgraded its earnings outlook for the fiscal year 2019 ending March 31, 2019.
Sony's upbeat outlook was also driven by optimism on its acquisition this year of EMI Music Publishing among other sectors of its business. The company could also look forward to the profits that could come from Venom of which box office has already exceeded $500 million. In September, Spider-Man sold 3.3 million copies which would also be reflected for the next fiscal year.
Analysts are also betting on record sales that may come from Red Dead Redemption II which has just been released.
Call of Duty: Black Ops also set a new PlayStation record for first-day digital sales. Profits from Assassin's Creed Odyssey would also be reflected next quarter.
The much-awaited Battlefield V, Fallout 76, and Cause 4 would be released before 2018 ends as well as the anticipated PlayStation Classic mini-console.
The remarkable revenue coming from Sony's gaming business compensated the company's declining sales from its mobile business. Mobile revenue has been down by 32 percent year-on-year.
Damian Thong, an analyst at Macquarie Group Ltd., said 2018 would be the best year for Sony's PlayStation as the unit is providing stability when there is an overall uncertainty for smartphone demand across markets. Still, Sony remains to be the market leader in creating image sensors and chips which could convert light into digital bits.
Meanwhile, rival Nintendo has also reported a strong profit of more than $500 million boosted by its gaming products, particularly the Switch console.
