Quarterly profits at Japanese electronics giant Sony have almost halved, hurt by a loss at its mobile phone venture with Sweden's Ericsson.
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Sony was rattled by a strong yen and stiff price competition, although PlayStation sales were strong.
The company also trimmed its annual profit forecast.
"Games have recovered well - that's positive. But movies aren't good. Then Sony Ericsson is really a drag," said Hiroaki Osakabe, a fund manager at Chibagin Asset Management.
Japan's electronics makers have seen mixed performances as they grapple with a US economic downturn, higher fuel and raw material prices and a stronger yen - although the Japanese currency has begun to weaken recently.
Toshiba, which makes the memory chips used in digital cameras and mobile phones, said it made a net loss of 11.6bn yen in the quarter due to slump in semiconductor sales.
It also blamed a stronger yen.
However, Matsushita, behind the Panasonic brand, said its net profit soared almost 86% to 73bn in the first three months of the financial year, compared with the same period a year ago, helped by brisk sales of large flat-screen televisions.
(BBC)
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