Pursuits
James Bond, Adele Save Sony Profit in Global Smartphone Rut
- CEO Kazuo Hirai maintains full-year company forecasts
- Adele's record-breaking `25' was kept off streaming services
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Sony Corp.’s earnings got a huge helping hand from Hollywood, music and games last quarter, validating Chief Executive Officer Kazuo Hirai’s shift away from its consumer hardware roots. The company’s U.S. shares jumped the most in more than seven years.
As Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. reel from the twin blows of a global smartphone slump and emerging-markets uncertainty, Sony posted better-than-expected results. A 33-percent surge in net income to 120.1 billion yen ($997 million) in the December quarter appeared to endorse its move toward gaming and entertainment, confining mobile exposure mainly to the sophisticated camera sensors it’s known for.