Tokyo
Japan's Sony Corp on Thursday reported an annual loss in its image sensors business, raising fears the firm's revival of recent years may be losing momentum, even though cost cuts helped it book its biggest operating profit in eight years.
Annual operating profit more than quadrupled to 294.2 billion yen ($2.7 billion) for the year ended March due to cost cuts in its struggling smartphone business and brisk demand for PlayStation 4 videogames.
But the electronics maker said its devices business, including image sensors which have been central to its recovery, swung to a loss of 29 billion yen from a profit of 89 billion yen the previous year.
Sony has been shifting attention over the past two years to higher-margin products such as sensors from consumer electronics such as televisions and mobile phones, under an overhaul led by Chief Financial Officer Kenichiro Yoshida.
But a global slowdown since late last year in the market for high-end smartphones - which feature high-spec cameras - has dented sensor sales.
