Games Profitability Top Priority For Sony’s Stringer

Sony chairman Howard Stringer has claimed that restoring profitability to the company’s television and video games business is his top management priority. Speaking at Sony’s annual shareholder meeting in Tokyo, Springer reiterated predictions that Sony Computer Entertainment will post its first annual profit since the introduction of the PlayStation 3. Sony’s video games unit has lost $3.4 billion in the last two years and its television business saw losses of $678 million in the last year. Profits have been hit especially hard due to the strong yen and weak dollar, with overall net income for group forecast to fall by 22 percent to ¥290 billion this year. This is despite sales predictions of 10 million PlayStation 3 consoles and 9 million PlayStation 2s. "Three years ago, we were criticized for the lack of innovation. Three days ago, in a UK brand poll, Sony was ranked No.1 this year," Stringer said in a quote by Bloomberg.com. "But, we are not No.1 in my mind yet."