Sony has just reported its third quarter results and revised its forecast for the full year. The results come just weeks after Sony confirmed that its Sony Pictures Entertainment subsidiary suffered a major cyberattack. Revenue in Q3 was up 6 per cent to $21.14bn, with operating income up 101 per cent to $1.47bn.

The company said this increase was in part due to “a significant increase in the Mobile Communications segment sales reflecting an increase in unit sales of smartphones”, which came as a pleasant surprise to most analysts. Quarterly smartphone sales reached 11.9m units. Revenue was up 29 per cent to $3.5bn, with operating income up 46 per cent to $76m, avoiding a trading loss, although the margin was just 2 per cent.

It was also positively impacted of foreign exchange rate movements, as well as a “significant increase” in the Devices segment sales due to the strong performance of image sensors, and a “significant increase” in the Game and Network Services segment sales thanks to PlayStation 4 sales. These multiple “significant increases”, however, were partially offset by a “significant decrease” in sales in its other segments, resulting from Sony’s exit from the PC business and a drop in sales from its film and TV business.

The foreign exchange impact is worth another mention, as it played a significant role in helping Sony report better than expected results. During the third quarter, the US government ended its quantitative easing (QE) policy and the Japanese government accelerated theirs. The result has been a strong dollar and a weak yen.