Sony forecasts $2B loss as smartphones lag
Source: AP-Excite
By ELAINE KURTENBACH
TOKYO (AP) — Sony expects its annual loss to swell to $2 billion and has canceled dividends for the first time in more than half a century after writing down the value of its troubled smartphone business.
Citing intense competition, especially from Chinese rivals, Sony said Wednesday it anticipates a net loss of 230 billion yen ($2.15 billion) for the fiscal year that ends March 31, 2015. Its previous forecast was for a 50 billion yen ($466 million) net loss.
For the first time since going public in 1958, the Japanese electronics and entertainment conglomerate canceled dividend payments for the half- and full-year.
"This is the very first time we ever eliminated a dividend," said Sony's president Kazuo Hirai. "For more than 50 years we always paid a dividend. The entire management takes this very seriously."
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Sony Corp. President Kazuo Hirai bows at the end of a press conference at the company's headquarters in Tokyo, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2014. Sony expects its annual loss to swell to $2 billion and has canceled dividends for the first time in more than half a century after writing down the value of its troubled smartphone business. Citing intense competition, especially from Chinese rivals, Sony said it anticipates a net loss of 230 billion yen ($2.15 billion) for the fiscal year that ends March 31, 2015. (AP Photo/Toru Takahashi)
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