While others suffer from tariffs, Sony gets rich off PS Plus and anime
Sony shares jumped 7.6 per cent - the biggest gain in four months - after the company revised its financial forecast upwards. Despite the threat of 100% duties on chips from the US, the Japanese giant is betting on the tried and tested: games, anime, music and loyal gamers.
The company now expects an operating profit of 1.33 trillion yen (about $9bn) - up 4% from its previous forecast. And it's all thanks to growth in its entertainment businesses, most notably PlayStation and the music business.
What's fuelling the growth
- There are 6% more active PlayStation users than a year ago.
- Music division revenue grew 5% despite currency fluctuations.
- The number of PlayStation Plus subscribers is growing faster than forecast, especially on the back of the release of popular games and preparations for the release of Ghost of Yōtei, the sequel to Ghost of Tsushima.
- Films and TV series, especially in the anime genre, are strengthening Sony's position as a creative media company. Demon Slayer alone earned 12.9 billion yen in its first 10 days at the box office in Japan.
- Smartphone game Fate/Grand Order, which is produced by subsidiary studio Aniplex, is celebrating its 10th anniversary and is also showing strong results.
Context
Despite the positives, the threat of 100% tariffs on chips from the US remains a serious risk for Sony - the company supplies camera sensors for iPhones and Android flagships. The projected impact of the tariffs has so far been estimated at 70 billion yen, which is still lower than originally expected (100 billion yen).
Source: Bloomberg
