Sony who has been discounting products in Australia in an effort to gain market share is expected to post an operating profit when they announce their annual results later this month.
This will be the first profit in two years and comes after the Company slashed tens of thousands of jobs, closed factories and moved manufacturing to third party Companies in an effort to stem billions in losses. As a result sales of Sony products have slumped in many categories as consumers move to brands like Samsung, Apple LG and Panasonic.
According to analysts the move to low-cost products has seen the brand pick up market share for LCD TVs in China and Japan. In the USA in the last quarter sales of Sony TV’s slumped 18% while Samsung, LG and Panasonic grew market share. In Australia Samsung, Panasonic and LG were all ahead of Sony in January with the Company trying to compete in the 3D TV backed by major sponsorship of the 2010 Soccer World Cup In South Africa.
Reuters said that the company, which competes with the likes of Panasonic and Samsung Electronics, suffered an operating loss of 227.7 billion yen in fiscal 2008, the newspaper said.
Sony has lowered parts and other purchasing expenses by around 500 billion yen a year as part of its efforts to pare costs, the paper said.
Sony Ericsson Communications is also expected to post a net profit for the January-March quarter, its first in seven quarters, Nikkei said.
In Comparison on April 30, Samsung, reported profits of $3.6 Billion for the quarter while Apple lifted their quarterly profit to over $3 Billion.