Sony posts strong music earnings, as gaming business disappoints

NelsonG · February 1, 2019

Sony posted record quarterly earnings this week on the strength of very strong music profits. Those numbers were catapulted thanks to the company’s $2.3 billion acquisition of EMI as part of an ever-consolidating music industry.

The electronics giant’s operating profit rose to $3.46 billion for the quarter — up from $3.21 billion a year prior, marking the highest single-quarter profit for the company. Things were less rosy on the gaming front, however, where the company was hit by declining hardware sales of its mature PS4 consoles for the holiday quarter.

The console sold 8.1 million units for the quarter — though the company says that’s roughly in line with its own expectations, as the latest PlayStation turns six. The long-awaited Marvel’s Spider-Man game was a hit for Sony, but not enough to make up for diminishing hardware sales. Profit for the gaming business dropped 14 percent, year over year.

The news comes as the younger (and cheaper) Switch continues to sell at a brisk pace — though Nintendo did notably trim expectations from 20 million to 17 million for the year. Sony was also hit by lowered demand for mobile imaging as the global smartphone market continues to struggle.