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Sony Posts 10% Profit Rise on Image Sensor Boost

(FILES) In this picture taken on May 9, 2022, the Sony logo is displayed at an entrance of the company's headquarters in Tokyo. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP)
(FILES) In this picture taken on May 9, 2022, the Sony logo is displayed at an entrance of the company's headquarters in Tokyo. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP)
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Sony Posts 10% Profit Rise on Image Sensor Boost

(FILES) In this picture taken on May 9, 2022, the Sony logo is displayed at an entrance of the company's headquarters in Tokyo. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP)
(FILES) In this picture taken on May 9, 2022, the Sony logo is displayed at an entrance of the company's headquarters in Tokyo. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP)

Sony on Wednesday reported a 10% rise in operating profit in the April-June quarter, beating analyst estimates, boosted by its industry-leading image sensor business.
Profit at the Japanese tech and entertainment conglomerate was 279 billion yen ($1.90 billion), compared with an average estimate of 275 billion yen from seven analysts polled by LSEG.
The impact from foreign exchange and higher sales helped profit at the image sensor business, a major supplier for smartphone makers, roughly triple to 36.6 billion yen.
A sprawling group encompassing music, movies, games and chips, Sony hiked its full-year profit forecast by 3% aided by foreign exchange rates.
Financial markets have been whipsawed in recent days following an interest rate hike by the Bank of Japan and weak labor data from the US that stoked recession fears.
"We are extremely concerned about the sudden fluctuations in exchange rates and possibility of economic downturn, particularly in the United States," Sony President Hiroki Totoki told an earnings briefing, according to Reuters.
The rise in the yen has left investors reassessing the outlook for Japanese multinationals, as the weak currency had provided a cushion for many heavyweight exporters.
Sony's assumed exchange rate for the year is approximately 145 yen to the dollar. On Wednesday, it was trading around 147, but it had been at 38-year lows near 162 at the start of July.
In the first quarter Sony sold 2.4 million PlayStation 5 (PS5) units, fewer than a year earlier, but booked a larger profit from its games business.
The group said in May it expects to sell 18 million PS5 units this fiscal year, compared to 20.8 million a year earlier.
The games industry is grappling with rising costs and weak pricing power. Sony-owned developer Bungie announced last week it is cutting almost a fifth of its workforce.
Sony's shares closed flat ahead of earnings and are down 8% year-to-date, giving the company a market capitalization of just over $100 billion.

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China Launches First Satellites of Constellation to Rival Starlink 

The Long March-2F Y13 rocket, carrying the Shenzhou-13 spacecraft and three astronauts in China's second crewed mission to build its own space station, launches at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center near Jiuquan, Gansu province, China October 16, 2021. (Reuters)
The Long March-2F Y13 rocket, carrying the Shenzhou-13 spacecraft and three astronauts in China's second crewed mission to build its own space station, launches at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center near Jiuquan, Gansu province, China October 16, 2021. (Reuters)
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China Launches First Satellites of Constellation to Rival Starlink 

The Long March-2F Y13 rocket, carrying the Shenzhou-13 spacecraft and three astronauts in China's second crewed mission to build its own space station, launches at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center near Jiuquan, Gansu province, China October 16, 2021. (Reuters)
The Long March-2F Y13 rocket, carrying the Shenzhou-13 spacecraft and three astronauts in China's second crewed mission to build its own space station, launches at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center near Jiuquan, Gansu province, China October 16, 2021. (Reuters)

A Chinese state-owned enterprise on Monday launched the first batch of satellites for a mega-constellation designed to rival US company Space X's Starlink's near-global internet network, a state-backed newspaper reported.

The launch marks an important step in Beijing's strategic goal of creating its own version of Starlink, a growing commercial broadband constellation that has about 5,500 satellites in space and is used by consumers, companies and government agencies.

The competition to occupy Earth's lower orbits also has military implications, with the potential to affect the balance of power between warring countries.

The launch, led by Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST), took place at Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre, one of China's main satellite and missile launch centers, located in the northern province of Shanxi, the China Securities Journal reported.

The launch is part of SSST's "Thousand Sails Constellation" plan, also known as the "G60 Starlink Plan", which began last year and aims to deploy more than 15,000 low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites.

LEO satellites usually operate at altitudes of 300km to 2,000km from the Earth's surface and have the advantage of being cheaper and providing more efficient transmission than satellites at higher orbits.

Starlink, operated by billionaire Elon Musk, has tens of thousands of users in the United States so far and plans to add tens of thousands more satellites to its system, the largest of its kind.

Chinese researchers in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) have over the past two years studied the deployment of Starlink in the war in Ukraine and repeatedly warned about the risks it poses to China, should the country find itself in a military conflict with the United States.

In January, an op-ed published in a PLA mouthpiece described the deployment of Starlink as a "serious threat to the security of space assets of various countries."

SSST's "Thousand Sails constellation" is one of three "ten-thousand star constellation" plans China is hoping will allow it to close the gap with SpaceX.

SSST's plan is to launch 108 satellites this year, 648 satellites by the end of 2025, provide a "global network coverage" by 2027, and get to 15,000 satellites deployed before 2030.

SSST did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.