NEW DELHI: Electronics giant Sony Corp has reported a 20 per cent jump in profit for the quarter ended 31 December 2020. Outstripping market expectations, the company closed Q3 with operating profit of $3.42 billion, up from $2.9 billion in the same quarter a year ago.

Electronics products and solutions (EP&S) sales remained almost flat at $6.1 billion as increase in sales of televisions due to higher value product mix was offset by decrease in unit sales of smartphones. The segment’s operating income was $1 billion compared with $800 million in the year-ago quarter.

Sony Music generated $1.36 billion in global recorded music revenues in Q3, up by 17.5 per cent year-on-year. That represented a jump in quarterly revenue of over $200 million.

On the music streaming side, quarterly revenues in the December quarter rose 26 per cent year-on-year, or by $174 million, to close at $843 million.

The game and network services segment raked in the highest revenue in the quarter, recording a 50 per cent increase in profits to $763 million, the company said in its financial report. It sold 4.5 million PlayStation 5 units in Q3, and expects to sell more than 7.6 million PS5 consoles by March-end.

Though it saw an increase in game software sales, network services sales, and higher profit margins on PlayStation 4 hardware, it lost revenue due to expenses related to the launch of the PlayStation 5. It is also incurring losses due to the strategic pricing of the PS5 that is said to be priced lower than its manufacturing cost.

Sony Pictures Entertainment recorded a $212 million profit in the third quarter, attributed to lower theatrical marketing costs and higher TV licensing and home entertainment sales from prior year titles.

Sony now expects $8.95 billion in operating profit in the 12 months through March compared with the $6.6 billion projection it previously made.

Separately, the parent company confirmed it will change names from Sony Corporation to Sony Group Corporation effective from 1 April 2020.