TOKYO, Feb 14 (AFP): Japan's Sony upgraded its annual net profit forecast on Wednesday but trimmed its PlayStation 5 unit's sales target, with the flagship console currently in its fourth year on the market.
The conglomerate now predicts a full-year net profit of 920 billion yen ($6.1 billion) instead of its previous target of 880 billion yen.
One reason for the more ambitious outlook is net gains on investments at Sony's life insurance business, the company said, announcing a plan to take its financial services division public in October 2025.
PlayStation 5 sales, meanwhile, are at risk of losing momentum, some analysts have warned, especially in the battle with US rival Microsoft.
Sony said it now expects to sell around 21 million PS5 units in the current financial year-trimming an earlier target of 25 million.
"PlayStation 5 hardware will enter into its fifth year, which will be the latter half of the console's life cycle," said Naomi Matsuoka, Sony's senior vice president.
She told reporters that Sony would "put renewed focus on its profitability", adding that "we expect its volume sales data to gradually start falling from the next fiscal year".
When the PS5 was launched in November 2020, supply chain snarl-ups made it difficult to buy.
But those issues have now eased and Sony touted strong software sales and robust user engagement on Wednesday.
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