Sony is betting on PlayStation 4 to seed its streaming services

- Sony CEO Kaz Hirai touts the company's latest console as key to swinging Sony's balance sheets to black during a recent meeting with the press. The PlayStation 4 is selling well, and Reuters reports Sony is banking on its continued success to help buoy its balance sheets. Specifically, the company is looking to continue pushing the console's install base higher in a bid to grow its streaming entertainment services, even as it restructures its electronics division in the wake of reporting significant losses in the previous fiscal year. "We have to rigorously pursue install-base numbers," said Sony CEO Kaz Hirai during a meeting with reporters at Sony headquarters on Monday. He went on to point out that the PlayStation 4 -- and Sony's games business in general -- would be exempt from the company's current initiative to cut back on expenses and focus on profit over sales volume, which has led it to restructure its TV business and sell off its PC division, eliminating roughly 5,000 jobs in the process. Hirai claims that Sony network services like Music Unlimited, Video Unlimited and the upcoming PlayStation Now game streaming service will drive growth for the company as a whole. "The network is becoming increasingly important for our other businesses, too," said Hirai. "Our TVs have video-on-demand and Music Unlimited. PlayStation Now will be launched on Bravia TVs next."