Kojima Studios

If PlayStation is Sony's golden goose, then the smartphone division is the thorn in its side. A few quarters ago, mobile did actually make Sony some money, but that seems to have been a momentary departure from the norm. Smartphones lost the company around $247 million (JP¥27.6 billion) in the previous fiscal year, and the first three months of the new financial calendar aren't yielding better news. Another loss of nearly $97 million (JP¥10.8 billion) is the wart on today's books, and Sony doesn't expect it to get any better. In its predictions for the rest of the year, the company expects sales to decrease further, mainly in Europe, and the already "severe competition" it's facing to get even tougher. The Xperia XZ2 family hasn't blown anyone away, it seems, and the new mid-rangers and XZ2 Premium are unlikely to reverse the division's fortunes.

Sony Pictures also lost the company some money this quarter, but that's kinda par for the course. The movie biz was roughly $68 million (JP¥7.6 billion) in the red, but that's less than the company lost during the same period last year. Just two movies were released during the quarter, though, and Sicario: Day of the Soldado was only in cinemas for two days before the books were shut for another three months. At the end of the last financial year, Sony Pictures recorded a profit of nearly $370 million (JP¥41.1 billion), so a sketchy first quarter shouldn't be any cause to worry -- the interns uploading full movies to YouTube instead of trailers might be, however.

Sony's other departments are ticking along quite nicely. Its music division brought in roughly $288 million in profit (JP¥32.1 billion) thanks to strong streaming revenues and the success of its mobile free-to-play game Fate/Grand Order, which is lumped into the category. At the end of this financial year in March 2019, Sony's said it'll stop making physical PS Vita games. With Fate/Grand Order doing well, perhaps the future of Sony's handheld gaming strategy will include more mobile titles.