Sony cuts profit target on price competition

Sony cut its operating profit estimate for this business year by 31 per cent.

Sony cut its operating profit estimate for this business year by 31 per cent.

It cited the sharply falling prices of televisions, DVD recorders and other key products - and weak demand for chips.

The consumer electronics giant said it also fell short of its earnings targets in its portable audio business, where it has failed to match the efforts of rival Apple and its popular iPod music player.

Sony said it now sees a group operating profit of 110 billion yen ($1.07 billion) for the year to March 31st, down from its previous estimate of 160 billion yen (€1.2 billion) profit.

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Investors are still jittery about the company's earnings following the "Sony Shock" in 2003 when it announced a $1 billion fourth-quarter loss, prompting a two-day, 25 per cent slide in Sony shares.

In a separate announcement, Sony said today it would double monthly production of its new PlayStation portable game player to two million units early in 2005 to cope with strong demand.