Sony Reduces Image Sensor Sales Forecast

Sony quarterly earnings report for its fiscal Q3 quarter ended on December 31, 2017 updates on the image sensor business:

"Sales are expected to be lower than the October forecast primarily due to an expected decrease in unit sales of image sensors for mobile products. Operating income is expected to be higher than the October forecast primarily due to higher-than-expected profits resulting from sales of assets and cost reductions, partially offset by the above-mentioned expected decrease in sales."

Update: SeekingAlpha publishes the earnings call transcript with more details:

"We have reduced our sales forecast by 30 billion yen compared with the October forecast to 850 billion yen due to a decrease in unit sales of image sensors for mobile products shipped to Chinese smartphone makers. We have upwardly revised our operating income forecast by 5 billion yen to 155 billion yen primarily due to an increase in gains from asset sales and a reduction in expenses, partially offset by the decrease in sales. Short-term demand for image sensors for mobile products is fluctuating, but we expect growth to come from the adoption of dual-lens and sensing applications. Moreover, our view that the market for image sensors will grow over the mid-to-long term is unchanged because we expect growth to come from other applications, such as automotive, as well."