Sony Group - Earnings Call - Q1 2026

Transcript

Speaker 1

It's now time to begin the Sony Group Corporation Consolidated Earnings Announcement meeting. I'll be serving as the emcee. I am Ishii from Corporate Communications. Today, the financial results for the fiscal 2025 first quarter and the full-year forecast will be presented by Lin Tao, Corporate Executive Officer and CFO. An overview of the financial services segment, which is scheduled for a partial spin-off and listing at the end of September, will be given by Toshihide Endo, President and CEO of Sony Financial Group Inc. That will be followed by a Q&A session. The entire session is scheduled to last about 70 minutes. Please note that Ms. Tao wishes to deliver her remarks directly in English to the global audience, so a pre-recorded video will be streamed on the English channel.

Speaker 2

Hello everyone. Today, I will explain the content shown here. After that, Mr. Endo will explain the financial results of Sony Financial Group. Sales of continuing operations for the quarter increased 2% compared to the same quarter of the previous fiscal year to ¥2,621.6 billion, and operating income increased 36% to ¥340 billion, both of which were record highs for the first quarter. Net income increased 23% to ¥259 billion. The financial results by segment are shown here. Next, I will explain our full-year results forecast. Our sales forecast is unchanged from our previous forecast of ¥11,700 billion, and we have upwardly revised our operating income forecast from our previous forecast by 4% to ¥1,330 billion, and our net income forecast by 4% to ¥970 billion. We raised our forecast for operating cash flow by 2% to ¥1,270 billion. The forecasts for each segment are shown here.

Now, I will provide an update on the impact of additional U.S. tariffs. Although there have been significant developments in the past few weeks regarding the situation surrounding the additional tariffs, there are still some fluid aspects, such as product-specific tariffs. We plan to carefully assess the impact and our response throughout this fiscal year based on multiple scenarios. Furthermore, we need to carefully consider the impact on each business of the product and pricing strategies we aim to undertake in response to the additional tariffs. Taking this into consideration, we have decided to present the impact of the additional tariffs as an estimate for all of our continuing operations, as was the case in the previous forecast.

We expect the impact on operating income for FY2025 to be approximately ¥70 billion, which is a decrease of ¥30 billion from the previous forecast, based on the tariff rates announced as of August 1. We had nearly completed the diversification of the production locations of our main products by the end of the quarter, and we expect to complete the measures we are planning by the end of the first half of the fiscal year. We intend to continue to monitor the situation and take actions to minimize the impact. Now, I will turn to an overview of each business. First is the GNNS segment. FY2025 Q1 sales increased 8% year-on-year to ¥936.5 billion, primarily due to an increase in third-party software sales, partially offset by the negative impact of foreign exchange rates.

User engagement continued to increase year-on-year with the number of monthly active users across all of PlayStation in June increasing 6% compared to the same month of the previous year to 123 million accounts, and total playtime for the quarter also increased 6% year-on-year. Operating income increased approximately 2.3 times year-on-year to ¥148 billion, a new quarterly record high for the segment, primarily due to the impact of the increased sales of third-party software and an increase in network service revenue. As a consequence of the recent strong user engagement trend, we have upwardly revised our FY2025 forecast for sales slightly from last time to ¥4,320 billion, and our FY2025 forecast for operating income by 4% to ¥500 billion.

The improvement in operating income for FY2025 compared to the previous fiscal year is expected to be driven primarily by an increase in our strong network service revenue, cost reduction, and an increase in first-party software revenue. In our studio business, our live service game revenue is steadily growing thanks to the MLB The Show series, Destiny 2, and Helldivers 2, and it contributed more than 40% of our first-party software revenue during the quarter. In the single-player AAA title space, we plan to release Ghost of Yate in October, following the release in June of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, which received a Metacritic score of 90. We look forward to many game fans enjoying these titles. We decided to postpone the release of Marathon to further improve the quality of the gameplay.

Based on community feedback, we think we can further enhance the overall gaming experience by deepening gameplay and elevating narrative immersion, so we're working hard to do that. MAU in June, four years and seven months after the launch of PS5, increased 32% from the 93 million MAU accounts in June 2018, the same period after the launch of PS4, and they continue to consistently grow. Content and service revenue is expected to grow approximately 50% on a U.S. dollar basis in the current fiscal year forecast compared to the level recorded in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2019, exceeding the MAU growth. This indicates that, in addition to the increase in the number of users, an increase in spending per user is contributing to revenue growth.

We expect content and service revenue to continue to grow steadily from next fiscal year onwards as well, thanks to the user community we have cultivated to date. Next is the Music segment. FY2025 Q1 sales increased 5% year-on-year to ¥465.3 billion, primarily due to higher revenue from streaming service and an increase in revenue from a mobile game, partially offset by the impact of foreign exchange rates. Operating income increased 8% to ¥92.8 billion. On a U.S. dollar basis, streaming revenue for the quarter increased 7% year-on-year in recorded music and 8% in music publishing. We have upwardly revised our previous FY2025 forecast for sales and operating income slightly to ¥1,870 billion and ¥360 billion, respectively. In recorded music, albums from Sony Music Entertainment-owned and distributed labels claimed 42% of the weekly top 10 global albums on Spotify during the quarter, with Bad Bunny's new release taking the No.

1 spot for six consecutive weeks. The contribution of catalog products to our revenue continues to increase, and we remain committed to acquiring catalogs in both the recorded music and music publishing business since we believe that the opportunity to increase the monetization of these assets by acquiring more of them will continue. In Visual Media and Platform, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, the movie Infinity Castle, which was released on July 18 in Japan, has been a massive hit, attracting 12.55 million people to theaters and generating ¥17.6 billion in box office revenue as of August 3. We plan to release the film in the U.S., Europe, and certain countries and territories in Asia, Central, and South America, distributing it along with Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures, and we look forward to it being a major global success. Next is the Pictures segment.

FY2025 Q1 sales decreased 3% year-on-year to ¥327.1 billion, and operating income increased 65% to ¥18.7 billion. On a U.S. dollar basis, sales increased 4% year-on-year and operating income increased 76%, primarily due to higher series deliveries in Television Productions. There is no change to our forecast from the previous forecast. In Television Productions, the second season of The Last of Us, which was renewed for a third season, received several Emmy nominations. In Feature Films, 28 Years Later has become a box office hit after crossing $150 million globally, and K-pop Demon Hunters, produced by Sony Pictures Animation, has achieved massive success, becoming the most-watched Netflix original animated film of all time. Crunchyroll is steadily growing its paying subscribers and is expanding the global anime community through such activities as hosting the Crunchyroll Anime Awards in Tokyo in May.

Now, I will explain our strategic partnership with Bandai Namco, which we announced on July 24. Through this partnership, we plan to accelerate our collaboration with Bandai Namco even more than before, working to do such things as co-create new IP, collaborate on video production, distribution, and merchandising in the anime and manga fields, as well as strengthen marketing through the sharing of data. Additionally, in the field of experiential entertainment, we aim to create a new Kondo experience by bringing together the strengths of both companies, such as Bandai Namco's knowledge and venue, and Sony's technology. Next is the ETNS segment. FY2025 Q1 sales decreased 11% year-on-year to ¥534.3 billion, primarily due to a decrease in unit sales of TVs and the impact of the foreign exchange rate.

Operating income decreased 33% to ¥43.1 billion, primarily due to the impact of a decrease in sales and the impact of foreign exchange rates. There is no change to our forecast from the previous forecast. Except for televisions, where competitors engaged in more aggressive pricing than we had anticipated, market conditions during the quarter progressed generally in line with our expectation across the other major product categories. The imaging business performed well, essentially in line with our original projection, supported by the continued tailwind of the subsidy program in China. Last June, at the largest Hollywood film production equipment exhibition, CineGear Expo 2025, we exhibited a system that links Zheng's spatial reproduction display with the Venice Extension System Mini as a form of new content creation. It attracted strong interest from the film production creators in attendance.

In this segment, we aim to accelerate the expansion of our creation-centered business through these products and solution services. Next is the INSS segment. Despite the impact of the foreign exchange rate, sales for the quarter increased 15% year-on-year to ¥408.2 billion, primarily due to increased shipment of sensors for mobile phones and digital cameras. Operating income increased 48% to ¥54.3 billion, as the impact of the increase in sales significantly exceeded the negative impact of the foreign exchange rate. There is no change to our forecast from the previous forecast. The market for smartphones continued to recover gradually on a global basis. Excluding the impact of the foreign exchange rate, mobile sensor sales for the quarter grew steadily due to an increase in sensor shipment volume and an increase in unit price on a U.S. dollar basis.

Although recent shipment volume is increasing year-on-year, taking into account the possibility that customers are bringing forward orders due to the additional tariffs, we expect the annual shipment volume to be on par with the previous fiscal year. From fiscal year 2025 Q2 onwards, we expect sales to steadily increase due to rising unit prices resulting from further progress toward larger-sized sensors and higher added value, despite an expected deterioration in the foreign exchange rate compared to the previous fiscal year. In the consumer camera space, in addition to robust demand for single-lens cameras, the growing demand for video is driving demand for sensors used in new video cameras, such as handheld cameras. We aim to benefit from this market expansion and create new revenue opportunities.

To summarize, we believe that during the quarter, we made steady progress toward achieving the numerical targets we established in our fifth mid-range plan as profits continue to increase, primarily in the Game & Network Services, music, and Imaging & Sensing Solutions segment. On the other hand, we expect that uncertainty in the business environment, such as additional tariffs in the U.S., will have a greater impact from fiscal year 2025 Q2 onwards, and we will focus on conducting business operations that anticipate change while preparing for risks. This concludes my remarks.

Speaker 1

Now, Mr. Endo will provide an overview of the Financial Services segment performance. Mr. Endo, please.

Speaker 0

Now I will explain the financial results of the Sony Financial Group. On an I/FIRST basis, adjusted net income for the quarter increased ¥0.3 billion compared to the same quarter of the previous fiscal year to ¥23 billion, primarily due to the improvement in the loss ratio at Sony Assurance. Adjusted net income of Sony Life decreased ¥1.0 billion year-on-year to ¥15.6 billion, primarily due to the impact of rising interest rates, partially offset by an improvement in the funding costs as a result of the decrease in the repo transaction. Insurance accounting under I/FIRST requires an amount prepared for the future uncertainty be recorded as a risk adjustment liability. As interest rates rose during the quarter, the risk of a mass cancellation increased from an accounting valuation perspective, which reduced adjusted net income through the recognition of a loss and a decrease in the contractual service margin amortization.

The new business acquisition at Sony Life continued to trend at the high level of the previous fiscal year, with the annualized premiums from the policies enforced during the quarter increasing ¥16.1 billion to ¥1,313.6 billion, demonstrating strong growth, especially in the corporate insurance sales channels. The recruitment of life planners and an agency supporter is progressing well, and our sales channels are continuing to expand. Next, I will explain the progress of our measures to strengthen our financial foundations. As I explained at the Investor Day in May, the interest rate sensitivity of our assets exceeds that of our liability, resulting in an overhedged position at Sony Life. To address this, we are selling bonds and undertaking reinsurance over the course of two years, including this fiscal year.

In the quarter, we accelerated the sales of bonds that we had planned to sell over the course of the full fiscal year. As a result, the ESR level at the end of the quarter improved 3%, mitigating a significant negative impact of rising interest rates. Our consolidated ESR was 184%, and Sony Life's standalone ESR was 163%. Loss on sales of securities is deducted as an adjustment item from the adjusted net income. Going forward, we aim to further strengthen our financial foundation by accumulating economic value-based capital through the acquisition of a high-level new insurance contract and our efforts to reduce risks.

Speaker 2

There is no change to our full-year forecast of ¥60 billion in income before income taxes. Our forecast for adjusted net income has been reduced by 9% to ¥98 billion. We downwardly revised the forecast because we have revised our long-term interest rate assumption this time from the previous 2.7% to 3.3%, the average interest rate level in July, and because we have incorporated additional risk adjustments. However, going forward, we will continue to make every effort to bring adjusted net income as close as possible to our initial plan by accelerating the acquisition of new policies and reviewing expenses. Lastly, preparations for the listing on September 29 are progressing smoothly, and we plan to submit the final application for the listing to the Tokyo Stock Exchange tomorrow, August 8.

Additionally, at the Board meeting of Sony Financial Group Inc., which will be held on the same day, we plan to officially approve the establishment of a share repurchase facility with a limit of ¥100 billion, effective from September 29 of this year through August 8 of the following year. There is no change to the ¥25 billion we plan to pay at the fiscal year in dividend. Heretofore, we have announced our financial results at the Sony Group's earnings announcements, including when we were a listed company in the past. From the second quarter onward, we will hold our financial results briefings as an independently listed company. We are fully committed to becoming a financial services group that is truly valued by a wide range of stakeholders, including shareholders and investors. We sincerely appreciate your continued support after the listing. The presentations were given by Ms. Tao and Mr.

Endo. We will begin the Q&A session for media representatives at 4:25 P.M., followed by the Q&A session for investors and analysts at 4:50 P.M. Each Q&A session is scheduled to last approximately 20 minutes. For those who have registered in advance to ask questions, please click the "Join Webinar" link and remain on standby in the session. Please kindly make sure to review the guidance document sent in advance for details on how to ask questions and important notes. We will be resuming shortly.

Speaker 1

We will soon start the Q&A session for the members of the media. Please wait a little while longer. Thank you for waiting. We will now start the Q&A session. First, the officers on stage: Corporate Executive Officer and CFO, Lin Tao; Senior Vice President in Charge of Finance and IR, Sadahiko Hayakawa; Senior Vice President in Charge of Corporate Planning and Control, Disc Manufacturing Business and Storage Media Business, Naoya Horii; President and CEO, Sony Financial Group Inc., Toshihide Endo. We will now take the questions from the members of the media. Please limit your questions to two per person. If you would like to ask a question, please click the "Raise Hand" button in the Webex screen. The first question will come from Toda-san of Yomiuri Newspaper. Can you hear? Yes. About the tariffs, two questions. Initially, the tariff outlook was ¥100 billion.

Now that's been reduced by ¥30 billion to ¥70 billion. Can you explain in a little more detail why the decline? That's one. The other thing, the Trump administration in the U.S. is talking about a 100% tariff rate for semiconductors. I don't know how it will be applied for Japan, but what will be the risk if that becomes 100%? Thank you for the question. Let me respond. The ¥100 billion tariff impact that we explained previously and the difference this time. For Q1, for semiconductors, there is no impact, and for GNNS, Games, and Sony Electronics, a total of ¥100 billion plus impact. That's according to assumptions. There was some postponement, and there was a strategic inventory, and this was smaller than in Q2 onwards. Based on the assumptions and the measures, Q2 onwards, the decline is lower compared to expectation in May.

GNNS, ETNS, INSS, ¥20 to ¥30 billion each. That's a total of ¥70 billion impact from tariffs. That's now factored into our forecast. You asked about the Trump administration's semiconductor tariffs. Today, we announced our forecast. That's based on the tariff rate that was officially announced August 1. There is a lot of information coming out about tariffs, and the situation is shifting daily. We rely on the officially announced numbers, and based on that, we will evaluate the direct and indirect impact. That we will continue to do going forward. Thank you. One additional thing. In our business, semiconductor components itself, direct export to the U.S. is very limited. I would just like to make that point. Let's move on to the next questions. From Nikkei, Yoshida-san, please go ahead and ask your questions. Yoshida-san, are you there? Can you hear me? This is Nikkei, Yoshida speaking.

Sorry about that. I do have two questions. The first one is about animation. Current evaluation of the titles in Pictures, and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba got off to a really great start, and then also National Treasure has been hugely successful. How are you evaluating the box office performance of these two titles compared to your initial estimate? With regards to Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, it is expected that the box office revenue will continue to increase. Do you think that this will be good enough so that it will cause you to really revise upward your forecast, including merchandising? Also, your investment in Bandai Namco, you have been aggressively investing in IP content creation. How are you evaluating the results of the investments so far, and is there any specific investment that caused you to upward revise your forecast?

The first question, I will take that, and the second question will be answered by Hayakawa-san. Excuse me. With regards to anime titles, as you said, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba and National Treasure have been quite successful. We are getting really positive feedback. These titles, whether they are in line with our expectation, but Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, because there are previous releases, which were loved by many users, and that was a really successful IP, so we had a really high expectation for this IP. That has been factored in our forecast. As for National Treasure, under the umbrella of Aniplex and then Median Studio was producing this title, and this was the first title, which has met with a really positive response, and this significantly outperformed our expectation.

In terms of the overall impact on our revenue and profit, the impact is not that sizable, and that has been already included in the forecast or our outlook. With regards, thank you very much for the question. The investment in Bandai Namco, of course, we have been shifting to the creation. For example, the entertainment three businesses basically account for 60% of consolidated revenue. Basically, our business portfolio is shifting more to the creation. As for the electronics business, and TV, and then output compared to output devices, we are now shifting creation devices that include digital camera. As a result, we are seeing more stability in profitability and in revenue, and also the productivity of our performance is increasing. Against such a backdrop, for example, in the music business, the music streaming and EMI music publishing has been acquired, and then we increased the music catalog.

As I mentioned in the speech, in the gaming business, moving away from a hardware-centric business to more to the community-based engagement business, that has been increasing. Now as we make more transition to entertainment creation, the stability and the productivity of our performance is increasing. This upward revision might not have been a direct result of these, however, the music publishing and also acquisition of a music catalog, and then also the acquisition of Crunchyroll. These are the areas where we are seeing growth, and as a portfolio, we have been expanding our businesses and also improving our profitability.

Speaker 2

Moving on to the next question. Nishida-san, freelance reporter, please. Do you hear me? Yes, we do. This is Nishida. I have two questions about the semiconductor business and electronics business. First, about the semiconductor business. Today, it was reported in the news that Apple is investing in the U.S. as a partner. Is it possible that they will have a production facility in the U.S.? This type of risk might not appear this year, but towards the end of this year to next year, how would you mitigate this risk, like risk hedge? Number two, within the electronics, I have a question on smartphones. In the first half, Xperia Mark VII, there has been a risk of recall, and what would be the impact on the sales and impact on the smartphone business itself? Thank you for the question. I have received two questions.

I would like to respond to the smartphone questions on ETNS. The INSS question, Horii-san will respond later on. About the Xperia, about the defect of Xperia smartphone. We are very sorry that we caused inconvenience to the users. I would like to apologize. About identifying the defect, and the countermeasures have already been completed. The malfunction itself was coming from the production process. The impact did loss, and we have exchanged the parts which have been impacted. About the quality, this is a big management agenda for Sony. We will work so that this will not happen going forward. The smartphone business itself is an extremely important business for us. The telecom technology is a technology that we have been nurturing for a long time. This is used to other areas other than smartphone. We will continue to grow this business. The first question about the semiconductors, Horii-san, please.

Thank you for the question. I cannot respond to questions pertaining to a particular customer. However, about the risks and countermeasures on overall risk, I would like to respond. As you have indicated, in the U.S., we do not have any semiconductor production facilities in the U.S. In the short term, it is not really feasible to produce in the U.S. in the short term. Where the source is and offering very high-quality devices to the customers, and how to make the final product delivered to the customers as attractive as possible, this is what we have been working on from before. We will make sure that we will provide devices that even exceed that of competitors. This type of risk always exists. As a device manufacturer, the competitiveness and quality of the product. With this, we would like to get involved in this market. Thank you.

Speaker 1

We'd like to move on to the next question. Taranosan from NHK, please. Can you hear? Taranosan from NHK, can you hear? Yes. Thank you. About the U.S. tariffs, I want to ask about the impact. In the last announcement, the President said that there is no major change occurring in the short term, but there is a time lag about the economic sentiment, and you look carefully. About your views about the economy, what's the current situation with the U.S. consumers? Also for this fiscal year, where you talked about the earnings, you said that there are uncertainties, and you'll be watching carefully. In terms of the performance forecast, if you can also talk about that, please. Thank you. I'd like to respond to that question. About the U.S. economy, it's slightly decelerating, slowing down a bit, but a rapid deterioration we expect can be avoided.

However, we need to carefully monitor the situation is what we think. Q2, so April to June, U.S. GDP was 3% growth, higher than expectations. Personal consumption is starting to show recovery, but compared to last year, the strength is less. Concerning our business, as a portfolio, we have hardware, and we have to carefully watch the situation for hardware. On the other hand, for the entertainment business as a whole, they can withstand the impact of the economy. Their business is less impacted by the economic situation. That's the nature of that business. Those impacts have been already factored into our forecast that we announced today. Thank you. We are running out of time, so the next question will be the last one. Iwata-san from NIKKEI Business, go ahead and ask your questions. Can you hear me? Can you hear us? This is Iwata from NIKKEI Business.

I do have one question. During the presentation, you talked about the partnership with Bandai Namco, and then also last year, you forged a partnership with Kadokawa. What will be the timeline of seeing the result in terms of the performance? I know that Kadokawa and Bandai Namco, you already had the partnership before your decision to investment. What are the changes that we can expect after the investment? Thank you for the questions. You are right. Bandai Namco and Sony Group are already collaborating through partnership on the ground, and especially game, music, and anime areas. Before our investment, we treat them as a really important partner for collaboration. With this recently announced investment, we can go deeper and then wider in terms of collaboration. We are seeing a possibility of that.

More specifically, the game and anime IP using us as an access so that we can really expand the community. Also, Bandai Namco is really great at creating venues, and we believe that Sony's technology can really shine in the venues by Bandai Namco so that we can really collaborate together to deliver a Kondo experience. We believe that that's something that we can do. In terms of timeline, this is kind of difficult to say, but I think there are longer-term collaborations or there are immediate collaborations, including IP community building. There are some low-hanging fruits that can be achieved within one year. Looking at the overall collaboration at the group level, we want to produce the appropriate output and then to see if we can be producing returns. We will regularly consider and then assess the situation going forward. That's all.

That concludes the Q&A session for the members of the media. The Q&A session for investors and analysts will start at 4:50 P.M. Please. We will start the Q&A session for investors and analysts shortly. Please wait a few more moments until we resume. Thank you for waiting. We will now begin the Q&A session with investors and analysts. I am Kondo from IR Group, and I'll be moderating this session. As with the media session, the four individuals here will be responding to the questions. Now, let's begin the Q&A. Each person may ask up to two questions. If you have a question, please click the "Raise Hand" button on the Webex screen. Mizuho Securities, Nakane, please. This is Nakane from Mizuho. Do you hear me? Yes, we do. Thank you. I have two questions. The first question is about finance, and the second question is on games.

You are trying to improve the asset overhead in finance. The progress from the first quarter and the business environment is changing. Please tell me if there have been any changes from the first quarter. The second question is on gaming. About Marathon. In the profit, you have factored in some negative in the profit that. How have you incorporated that? The sales and profit, as well as the timing of launching Marathon. Please give us hints. About Bungie. It seems like an autonomous region. We would like to hear about the governance of Bungie. You can say if this is not probable, but the worst-case scenario, if you are not going to launch it, if there are any risks such as impairment. I have such two questions here. Thank you for the questions. Endo-san will respond to the first question, and the second question I will respond.

I will respond to the first question. About asset sales, improvement of finances. In the Investor Day, in FI25 and FI26, we have explained and announced the measures for FI25 and FI26. The partial sale of assets, what was scheduled for this fiscal year, has been advanced. These were sold in advance. Thanks to this, this is done to improve the ESR and selling bonds. Through these activities, Sony Life's ESR improvement, it has improved by 3%. This fiscal year, the interest has risen significantly. There has been lots of downside pressure on ESR. Overcoming that, we have been able to prevent ESR from slumping. The group consolidated was 189%, but that was the end of FI24. Now, this quarter, we have kept the ESR to 184%. That is within the ESR target range. This is thanks to advancing our initiatives to improve our finances.

These advanced initiatives were carried out. About selling U.S. bonds, as I said in the Investor Day, the losses, the liabilities, we are trying to sell the bonds as reinsurance. These are still remaining, and we will be working on that going forward. Beyond that, in FI25, FI26, and beyond, we don't have any plans as of now. Second question, I would like to respond to the question on Marathon. First, about Marathon, how we factored in the forecast. We expect the launch to happen within this fiscal year. Having said that, this is not a commitment. We cannot, no official announcement has been given yet. We are expecting this to be launched within this fiscal year. However, compared to the sales, it is very small compared to the overall sales and the timing of launch. We are now doing modification development.

Based on the progress in the autumn timeframe, we believe we can communicate when we will be launching that. We can launch that either from Bungie or PlayStation. About governance of Bungie, as you have said, when we, the governance at the time of acquisition, we were offering a very independent environment. That was one way of thinking. However, thereafter, we have gone through structural reform, as we have announced last year. This type of independence, this independence is getting lighter. Bungie is shifting into a role which is becoming more part of PlayStation Studio. Integration is also proceeding. In the long term, if you can see this as an ongoing process, the direction is to become part of PlayStation Studio. About the launch of Marathon, we are now fixing the problems. We believe this launch will happen.

If this launch is canceled, we need to do the revision of the valuation. However, as of now, this is not expected. Thank you. From Goldman Sachs. Muna-Kata-san, please. Muna-Kata from Goldman Sachs. Can you hear? Yes, we hear you. Thank you. I also have two questions about the games. First, improvement of margins. Why? Seems that the margin has improved quite substantially. What will be the mix between hardware and software? What is the gross margin of hardware and what is inside software? I think that there's also contribution from network services. Can you talk about this in more detail? Second quarter onwards, tariff impact will be larger than Q1. What's expected? This high margin, is that something that you'll be able to sustain? That's the first question. Second question. About the Marathon, I also want to ask. It's a title that's attracting a lot of attention.

You're strengthening live service games. How do you look at the current status of your strategy to strengthen that? You look at the quality before launch, and you're making a decision, and you're postponing. I think you're making a flexible decision. I think that's a good thing. On the other hand, it's a negative thing that the title doesn't appear. How do you look at the current situation? In terms of strengthening live service games, where do you see the issues, please? Thank you for the questions. I'd like to respond to those questions. First, about the game margins. For Q1, mainly, what drove the margins was third-party software and network service, and also a decline in acquisition costs and a decline in SG&A costs. The margin as a whole, going forward, the factors that would drive the margins, there are two major parts.

One is network service, and the other is first-party studio contents. Structurally, those should lead to improvement of margin. For network service, the number of subscribers increasing and ARPU rising, and the shift to a higher tier, and the optimization of content acquisition costs. These are things we're working on diligently. Structurally, they should contribute to the margin. The other thing is about the first-party contents. As you point out, not everything is going well, but this is clear. Compared to fiscal 2024, first-party is seeing higher revenue and profits, and that will contribute to higher margins. Our first-party portfolio, if that should stabilize, then we think that the margin increase will be sustainable. Second question about Marathon, and also live service game, the overall status. Last year, Concord, and this year, Marathon was postponed. Somewhat the negative news has been coming out.

If you look at the past five years, five years ago, live service games were almost non-existent for the PlayStation Studios. We have Helldivers 2, MLB The Show series, and GT7, and Bungie's Destiny 2. We have these four live services contributing to sales and profit in a stable manner. For Q1, live service ratio was about 40%. For the full year, it's a little less, probably between 20% to 30%. In terms of the transformation, it's not entirely going smoothly, but from a longer-term perspective, if you look at the changes over five years, you see that there has definitely been a change. Of course, we recognize that there are still issues, many issues. We should learn the lessons from mistakes and make sure that we introduce live service content where there's less waste and it's more smooth. That's all for myself. SMBC Nikko Securities, Katsura-san, you're up next.

Thank you very much for the opportunity. This is Katsura from SMBC Nikko Securities. I do have two questions, and tariff-related, and also your revision to the forecast for this fiscal year. With regards to the first question about the tariff, this is just confirmation in Q1, I mean the quarter one, basically ¥110 billion. This has been already factored in by each segment. Basically, in all segments, I think the negative impact has been reduced. I just want to confirm that. The second question is about the full-year forecast. The gaming is improving ¥20 million, and also tariff impact has been reduced by ¥30 billion. I think those are the main changes that you have made. For the game area, there is an upward performance in Q1. Compared to that, I think the revision is smaller than the outperformance.

Maybe that is not limited to Q1 or the full year. Also, for the music area, FGO, and then also Demon Slayer, there are positive profit drivers. It seems that you seem to be more conservative and cautious in terms of the full-year forecast. Can you talk to me about your thinking about the revision from the macro perspective? Thank you. The first question, Horii-san will take that on. The second question will be answered by me. Thank you very much for your question. With regards to the tariff, your understanding is correct, and Q1, basically, the impact was already included in the actual performance and the P&L of each business for the full year. ¥70 billion is basically viewed at the company level. As we continue to see progress in the actual performance, I think it would be more difficult for the head office to really observe that impact.

For the Q1 announcement, you are right about that, and in terms of thinking, that's all I wanted to say. The second question for the full-year forecast and the thinking behind that. For the game in Q1, we see a real outperformance in profit. For the full year, basically, we made a report revision by ¥20 billion. Thinking about the positive drivers, network service, and also the positive impact of the Forex. Also, as was mentioned, the first-party game, because of the delay of the launch of Marathon, which had a negative impact on the profit, that is also partially offset. That's why we made a report revision by ¥20 billion in profit. For music, there are a number of hits, fortunately. Again, the impact on the overall business has been rather limited.

The blockbuster like Demon Slayer, we basically expected that would be a huge hit from the beginning of the year. That's why that is not a factor for the revision this time. Also, in Sony Group overall, from Q2 onward, the U.S. tariff impact will be felt more pronouncedly. There will be more uncertainties. In Q1, we had a really good performance. From Q2 onward, we are more conservative, and we need to take a more cautious approach.

Speaker 2

We have a little time remaining. We would like to accept one question each from two people. Okazaki-san from Nomura Securities, please go ahead. This is Kohei Okazaki from Nomura. I have a question on game. The revision of production basis to respond to U.S. tariffs, you said you have completed this within this quarter. Where are the games sold in the U.S. produced now? Also, the cost, I think, will influence the sales. I would like to hear about the pricing strategy of game consoles. I would like to respond. About gaming consoles, we are diversifying our supply chain. As for consoles, we have already transformed the production. If we include peripherals, the transfer to outside China will be completing by the end of the first half. Hardware sold in the U.S. are now sourced outside China.

About the pricing strategy of hardware, that really pertains to our future competitive strategy. It is very difficult to comment on this. The overall thinking is our annual profit and lifetime value, and also the selling volume and the expected content sales going forward. All these factors will be considered, as well as the receptiveness of the consumers to prices. We would like to flexibly decide on the prices.

Speaker 1

Final question from JPMorgan Securities. Iyada-san, please. Iyada-san, do you hear? Iyada from JPMorgan. Can you hear? Yes. Thank you. You say one question. Maybe it's a difficult question for you to respond to. It overlaps with the previous question. I want to come back to this. For INSS for North America, there's its biggest customer. As a part of its effort to increase procurement from the U.S., they've officially made a comment that they're going to procure chips from a Korean supplier. In that context, as a general matter, in enhancing product competitiveness, you're going to try to maintain your positioning. That context itself may not be valid just by your competitiveness. You may not be able to absorb those changes. What I want to ask about is, inclusive of those things, this kind of situation, has it been considered as a risk?

Have you been making preparations or simulations that this could happen as a risk? In terms of timing, it may be somewhat more into the future. Maybe you have some preparation period of several years. During that time, you will be able to come up with countermeasures. I think this will relate to capital expenditure plans. Please respond to the extent possible. Thank you for the question. Hori will respond. Thank you for the question. Yes, this situation, had we foreseen this and taken measures? Partly, we had considered this and assumed this. It's not that we have answers to all parts of this. It's just this morning that this was reported. We have to check about the accuracy of the reporting. We'll be debating internally based on that. This is an issue of that kind of nature. As of now, I'd like to limit my comment to that extent.

With that, we'd like to conclude Sony Group earnings announcement meeting. Thank you so much for joining us today.