Yoshida

Yukio Yoshida asked about the intent and scope of the ET&S structural reform, specifically the TV business joint venture with TCL, and the status of the smartphone business. He also questioned the impact of surging memory prices on the PS5, including potential price increases, successor timing, and the outlook for the next fiscal year.

Answer

Corporate Executive Officer and CFO Lin Tao stated the TCL partnership for home entertainment (including TV and home audio, as clarified by Senior VP of Corporate Planning and Control Naoya Horii) is part of ongoing portfolio optimization, with no plans for smartphone collaboration. Regarding PS5, Ms. Tao noted the established 92 million unit install base and robust ecosystem, expecting software and network services to drive significant contributions next fiscal year, mitigating memory cost impacts on hardware sales in the latter part of its lifecycle.

Yoshida from Nikkei asked for an update on the development status of the live service game Marathon, including whether its launch plan for this year remains unchanged, and the results of its recent technical test. Yoshida also questioned if the add-on service underperformance from July to September, the first in 13 quarters, was linked to delays in live service or new title releases. Additionally, Yoshida sought Sony's view on why titles like Demon Slayer exceeded performance expectations, particularly their cultural impact.

Answer

Lin Tao, CFO, Corporate Executive Officer, confirmed Marathon's development is ongoing, with a technical test involving 80,000 people providing key KPI data for analysis and corrections, and the launch within this year is included in the forecast. Lin Tao clarified that add-on performance depends on popular titles and does not necessarily indicate a slowdown, expecting strengthening performance with new titles for the year-end season. For Demon Slayer's success, Lin Tao attributed it to strong overseas market performance, especially unprecedented top-grossing revenue in Hollywood, which exceeded initial high confidence.