Sony suffers from falling hardware prices

Sony, the electronics company, recorded a net loss of 7.3bn yen (£37m) for the three months to June, compared with profits of 23.3bn yen last year. The result was attributed to a significant decline in the price of televisions and DVD recorders, slowing sales for the company’s PlayStation games console and reduced demand for image sensor chips used in digital cameras.

Sony is reducing its full-year profit forecast to 10bn yen, from a previous estimate of 80bn yen. Rival Japanese electronics companies, including Toshiba, NEC and Hitachi, also reported losses.

During the quarter to June, Toshiba, the world’s largest manufacturer of microchips, recorded a net loss of 8.9bn yen, NEC recorded a net loss of 10.9bn yen, due to a decline in sales of chips used in mobile phones, while Hitachi reported a net loss of 24.1bn yen compared with a net profit of 16bn yen a year earlier.

Hitachi’s senior vice president and chief financial officer, Takashi Miyoshi, said: “We expect the price competition to get heated”.

However, Matsushita Electrical Industrial, which manufactures Panasonic products and Fujitsu, the computer manufacturer, achieved net profits of 33.4bn yen and 2.5bn yen respectively during the quarter.

In March, Sony appointed UK-born Sir Howard Stringer as the first foreign group chairman in its 59-year history. The company will reveal a restructuring plan in September.