Sony, the Japanese electronics maker, said on Tuesday that its profit slipped in the third quarter as it took large losses on its new PlayStation 3 game console.
But the company raised its annual profit forecast on strong sales in its core consumer electronics business.
Sony reported a net profit 159.9 billion yen, or $1.3 billion, in the quarter ended Dec. 31. That was 5.3 percent below the same quarter the year before, but well above analysts estimates that profit would drop by as much as half.
The electronics division posted operating profit of 177.4 billion yen, up 102.8 percent, helped by the popularity of Sony’s Bravia flat-panel televisions and Cyber-shot digital cameras.
Electronics helped overcome some of the declines at the game unit, which posted a quarterly loss of 54.2 billion yen, down from a 67.8 billion yen profit in the quarter a year earlier.
In a statement, Sony blamed the decline on a strategic decision to set the price of the PlayStation 3 below the cost of production as a way to bolster market share and to start up costs associated with the new consoles that were released in Japan and the United States in November. Sales of PlayStation Portable hand-held players has also been slow, the company said.
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