Despite how a majority of us feel about Sony’s mobile ambitions which have been muted at best, the company as a whole is recovering quite nicely. One sign of a healthy company is the ability for it to invest in its future (as opposed to chasing the market) and Sony has been hard at work in that regard:

• Sony Outlines Their Plans Moving Forward
• PlayStation Is the “Largest Growth Driver” for Sony
• Sony Is Bringing AIBO, Its Robotic Dog, Back
• Sony Invests in AI Startup, Wants Them to Learn From Their Own Experiences
• Sony and Montclair State University Bring Touch of Hollywood to East Coast

 Having mostly stemmed losses at its television and other consumer electronics businesses, Sony revealed on Wednesday that it was investing in artificial intelligence technology and developing a robot that can bond emotionally with humans.

Despite an export-denting surge in the yen that has followed the UK’s vote to leave the EU, Sony kept its target of an operating profit exceeding ¥500bn ($4.9bn) for the 2017-18 fiscal year. If achieved, that would be the highest in two decades, improving from a profit of ¥294.2bn in the last financial year. 

Sony CEO, Kaz Hirai:

 It’s a challenging goal but we believe it’s a critical milestone for Sony to transform into a highly profitable company 

One of the biggest problems Sony’s had previously has been a lack of focus and we can still see that in their mobile division. It seems that their strategy, vision, and expectations for their mobile arm changes per quarter and because of that, growth has been elusive. However with PlayStation, thanks to the stellar performance of PS4, Sony has been able to lead and plot future growth potentials with services like PS Vue and PS Now alongside new hardware components like PS VR.

Cameras and image sensors has also been integral to Sony’s recovery over the past few years but further growth from the division will be tricky as the smartphone market matures. Still, with a rise in robotics, drones, and self driving/smarter cars, the need for image sensors will only increase. If Sony is able to capitalize on these trends which are still in their heyday and be a leading component provider, the upside will likely be even greater than that of the smartphone boom.

Discuss:

Do you think Sony is headed in the right direction?

[Via Financial Times]