Sony has announced its earnings for 2012's fourth quarter, with the Japanese consumer electronics firm reporting an eighth consecutive quarterly loss.
It suffered a net loss of 10.8 billion yen ($115 million) in the three months that ended in December. Sony’s mobile-products division, which produces its Xperia smartphones and tablets, posted an operating loss of 21.3 billion yen, a decrease from a 48.4 billion yen loss in 2011.
The company forecasts a full-year net profit of $213 million, which includes earnings stemming from the $1.1 billion sale of its New York headquarters.
Sony sold a total of 8.7 million smartphones during the quarter and kept its full-year smartphone sales target at 34 million units. It's expecting to sell 50 million Xperia smartphones during 2013.
Looking towards the future, Sony is set to release its Xperia Z smartphone globally sometime during the first quarter of 2013. The device has received widespread credit for a sleek design and its water resistant feature. For more on the device, visit our hands-on CES impressions. Sony is also working on the Xperia Tablet Z, with the 10.1-inch device being powered by a 1.5 GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor.
Elsewhere, a leak has suggested that Sony is working on a full HD 6.44-inch phablet, which is said to be the rumored C6603 Yuga handset.
