Sony Group (SONY) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

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DATE

Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026

CALL PARTICIPANTS

• Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer - Lin Tao
• Senior Vice President in charge of Accounting - Hirotoshi Korenaga
• Senior Vice President in charge of Corporate Planning and Control - Naoya Horii
• Corporate Communications - Tomoyuki Ishii

TAKEAWAYS

• Revenue -- JPY 3,429.4 billion, reflecting a 10% increase year over year driven by growth in the Pictures and Music segments.
• Operating Income -- JPY 622.3 billion, representing a 45% increase and a record high for the second quarter.
• Net Income -- JPY 449.6 billion, growing 44% year over year during the quarter.
• G&NS Operating Income -- JPY 220.1 billion, an 83% increase resulting from higher third-party software and network service sales.
• PlayStation Monthly Active Users -- 127 million accounts in September, representing a 7% increase year over year and a record for that month.
• Marvel's Wolverine Sales -- 2.4 million units since its September release, leveraging expertise from the Spider-Man franchise to drive segment results.
• Music Segment Sales -- JPY 598.4 billion, a 10% increase primarily due to higher streaming revenue despite the absence of a major theatrical release hit from the prior year.
• Recorded Music Streaming Revenue -- Growing 7% year over year on a U.S. dollar basis, led by Ella Langley's single "Choosin' Texas," which exceeded 1.8 billion streams.
• Pictures Operating Income -- JPY 92.6 billion, increasing sevenfold year over year to a second-quarter record due to theatrical performance.
• Spider-Man: Brand New Day Revenue -- $2.5 billion in worldwide box office, making it the highest-grossing film of all time in North America.
• I&SS Operating Income -- JPY 154.6 billion, a 12% increase representing a record high for quarterly operating income.
• Full-Year Sales Forecast -- JPY 13 trillion, representing a 4% upward revision from the previous forecast.
• Full-Year Operating Income Forecast -- JPY 1,870 billion, increased 9% due to stronger expectations in the gaming, music, and pictures divisions.
• Full-Year Net Income Forecast -- JPY 1,330 billion, representing a 10% increase over the previous guidance.
• Operating Cash Flow Forecast -- JPY 1,600 billion for the fiscal year, an increase of JPY 100 billion from the prior estimate.
• Sony Honda Mobility Loss -- JPY 30 billion, an additional loss recorded during the quarter that substantially completes recognition of downsizing costs.
• Kumamoto Earthquake Impact -- JPY 16 billion in losses for the fiscal year due to inventory damage, equipment repairs, and production downtime.
• ET&S Operating Income -- JPY 64.1 billion, increasing 5% primarily due to the impact of U.S. tariff refunds.
• Michael Jackson Catalog Performance -- 3 billion streams on Spotify in nine months, driven by a biopic that attracted Gen Z listeners.
• Music Catalog Consumption -- Over 50% of streams on the Spotify Global Top 200, highlighting the long-term value of assets released more than 18 months ago.
• PlayStation Play Time -- Increasing 4% year over year, indicating a steady improvement in user engagement baseline.
• I&SS Full-Year Sales Forecast -- JPY 2,120 billion, remaining largely unchanged while the segment operating income forecast was raised 7% to JPY 450 billion.

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RISKS

• Tao stated, "cyberattacks are becoming more complex and sophisticated," following incidents that inconvenienced customers and stakeholders.
• Tao stated, "slowdown in the Chinese market" has created challenging conditions for the Imaging business this quarter.
• Horii noted that in the smartphone market, the "low end and midrange dip versus the high end," contributing to a 20% year-over-year decline in market growth.
• Tao warned that "memory prices will be one of the challenges the management will face" regarding gaming hardware profitability in the next fiscal year.

SUMMARY

Sony Group Corporation (NYSE:SONY) reported record second-quarter performance, highlighted by consolidated operating income exceeding JPY 1 trillion for the first half of a fiscal year for the first time in company history. Management raised its full-year guidance for sales, operating income, and net income, citing strong momentum in third-party gaming software, music streaming, and theatrical releases. The company successfully navigated supply chain and environmental disruptions, including the recovery of semiconductor operations following the Kumamoto earthquake. Strategic investments continue to focus on expanding the entertainment ecosystem through cross-platform initiatives and a new semiconductor joint venture intended to enhance capital efficiency and technical competitiveness.

• CFO Tao stated, "finally, in my opinion, we have been investing on entertainment for many years. And finally, we are seeing mega hits every year," regarding the current IP deployment strategy.
• Management intends to introduce a dedicated Crunchyroll hub on the PlayStation 5 home screen in spring 2027 to capture cross-demand between the gaming and anime fan bases.
• The company postponed the release of God of War: Laufey to the first quarter of the next fiscal year to ensure the title meets expectations for a premium experience.
• Management launched Crunchyroll Storyworks to collaborate with Japanese creators on international anime adaptations and live-action versions of Japanese intellectual property.
• The semiconductor joint venture with TSMC is expected to lay the foundation for improved capital efficiency and cost competitiveness in the era of physical AI.
• The Michael Jackson biopic significantly revitalized catalog streams, with Gen Z listeners accounting for approximately half of the increase in total streams.
• Management confirmed that PS5 hardware profitability for the current fiscal year is expected to remain on par with the previous year despite rising memory costs.

INDUSTRY GLOSSARY

• G&NS: Game & Network Services, Sony's division responsible for PlayStation hardware, software, and network services.
• I&SS: Imaging & Sensing Solutions, the segment focused on image sensors and related semiconductor components.
• ET&S: Entertainment, Technology & Services, covering consumer electronics like televisions, audio, and cameras.
• MAU: Monthly active users, a key metric for measuring engagement on digital platforms.
• Crunchyroll: A Sony-owned global streaming service dedicated to anime and Japanese entertainment.
• Aniplex: A subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment Japan specializing in anime production and distribution.
• Sony Honda Mobility: A joint venture between Sony and Honda focused on developing high value-added electric vehicles.

Full Conference Call Transcript

Tomoyuki Ishii: Thank you very much for taking time to join us today. We will now begin the Sony Group Corporation Fiscal Year 2026 Second Quarter Earnings Announcement. I am Ishii from Corporate Communications. I'll be acting as moderator. Thank you. First, Ms. Lin Tao, Executive Officer and CFO, will present the second quarter results and fiscal year 2026 forecast, followed by question-and-answer session. Please note that to ensure our international audience can hear the speaker's own words, the presentation via the English feed will be delivered in a pre-recorded video. The session is expected to last approximately 70 minutes. Ms. Tao, please.

Lin Tao: Hello. I'm Lin Tao, CFO of Sony Group Corporation. Welcome to Q2 earnings announcement. Consolidated sales for the second quarter ended September 30, 2026, increased 10% compared to the same quarter of the previous fiscal year to JPY 3,429.4 billion, and consolidated operating income increased 45% to JPY 622.3 billion. Both were record highs for the second quarter. Net income increased 44% to JPY 449.6 billion. The financial results by segment are shown in the Q2 FY '26 results by segment slide. In the All Other segment, we recorded an additional loss of approximately JPY 30 billion related to Sony Honda Mobility during the quarter. This substantially completed the recognition of losses associated with the downsizing of the company's operations.

We have increased our FY '26 sales forecast 4% compared to our previous forecast to JPY 13 trillion. Our operating income forecast 9% to JPY 1,870 billion and our net income forecast 10% to JPY 1,330 billion. The forecast for operating cash flow is now JPY 1,600 billion. The impact of U.S. tariff refunds and memory market conditions on the full year operating income forecast remains largely unchanged. The forecast by segment is shown in FY '26 results forecast by segment slide. I will now give an overview of each business. First is G&NS segment. FY '26 Q2 sales increased 9% year-on-year to JPY 1,208.5 billion.

Operating income increased 83% to JPY 220.1 billion, a record high for the second quarter. Excluding one-time losses of JPY 49.8 billion recorded in the same quarter of the previous fiscal year, operating income increased 29%. For the full fiscal year, we have increased the sales forecast 6% compared to the previous forecast to JPY 4,830 billion. We have increased the operating income forecast 6% compared to the previous forecast to JPY 700 billion, primarily due to the impact of higher third-party software and network service sales and decreased costs. The number of monthly active users across the PlayStation platform in September increased 7% compared to the same month of the previous fiscal year to 127 million accounts.

That was a record high for September. Total play time for the quarter increased 4% year-on-year. The year-on-year trend for both metrics improved significantly compared to the first quarter of this fiscal year, which we believe demonstrates that the baseline of engagement is steadily improving. With regard to PS5 hardware, we have been able to offset the rise in memory prices through adjustments to promotions and pricing as well as additional cost reduction, and we expect hardware profitability for the current fiscal year to remain on par with the previous fiscal year.

Regarding memory procurement for next fiscal year, based on discussions held so far with various suppliers, we have aligned on the quantity of memory needed for our projected hardware unit sales. Regarding first-party titles, cumulative sales of Marvel's Wolverine released in September exceeded 2.4 million units, contributing to the improved results of the entire segment for the quarter. We leveraged our expertise building the Marvel's Spider-Man franchise to create a differentiated action game experience for Marvel's Wolverine. Users have praised the new title for its highly immersive action, high-quality production and richly layered storytelling. We have decided to postpone the release of God of War: Laufey to the first quarter of next fiscal year.

We will continue to develop the game to ensure that it provides a premium experience that meets the expectation of the title's diverse fan base. Although new PS5 unit sales are gradually declining as expected in this stage of the console life cycle, the PS platform continues to expand and grow in a stable manner. Looking ahead to next fiscal year, we aim to continue to enhance user engagement and further strengthen monetization through the release of strong titles and the expansion of our service. We also intend to make solid progress in preparing for the next-generation platform. Next is the Music segment. FY '26 Q2 sales increased 10% year-on-year to JPY 598.4 billion.

Operating income increased 6% to JPY 122.8 billion, setting a record high profit for the second quarter. This was primarily due to an increase in music streaming revenue despite the absence of the hit theatrical release of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, which was recorded in the same quarter of the previous fiscal year. For the full fiscal year, we have increased our sales forecast 5% compared to the previous forecast to JPY 2,300 billion and our operating income forecast 6% from the previous forecast to JPY 445 billion. Streaming revenue for the quarter on a U.S. dollar basis increased 7% year-on-year in Recorded Music and 6% in Music Publishing.

The single Choosin' Texas by Ella Langley is a huge hit, exceeding 1.8 billion cumulative streams globally and breaking multiple records on the music charts. The song has spent a total of 26 weeks at #1 on the U.S. Billboard singles chart, breaking the record previously held by a Mariah Carey song released approximately 30 years ago. It also reached a record total of 19 weeks at #1 on the Digital Songs chart. There has been a clear increase in the consumption of catalog songs driven by the growth of streaming. Through September of this year, catalog songs, songs that were released more than 18 months ago, accounted for more than half of the streams on Spotify Global Top 200.

Due to the big success of Michael Jackson's biopic, his catalog generated more than 3 billion streams on Spotify's Global Top 200 in the 9 months since January of this year, increasing from approximately 100 million in calendar year 2025. Gen Z listeners accounted for approximately half of the increase in streams, illustrating how the power of visual storytelling has revitalized our catalog and attracted new listeners. We believe such evergreen catalogs are assets that will continue to generate value over the long term, even in the age of AI. Next is the Picture segment. FY '26 Q2 sales increased 48% year-on-year to JPY 513.7 billion, and operating income was approximately 7x higher at JPY 92.6 billion.

This was record high operating income for the second quarter. For the full fiscal year, we increased our sales forecast 6% compared to our previous forecast to JPY 1,760 billion and our operating income forecast 33% to JPY 200 billion, primarily due to an increase in revenue from theatrical releases. Spider-Man: Brand New Day, released in July, was a record-breaking hit with worldwide cumulative box office revenue exceeding USD 2.5 billion. It is the highest grossing film of all time in North America and the third highest grossing film of all time globally.

Following the film's release, unit sales of related game titles approximately doubled and all the SMG released features in the film have generated more than 1 billion cumulative streams. This demonstrates how the real-world experience of watching the movie in the theater serves as a catalyst for enhancing IP value across the Sony Group in multiple ways. SPE has a strong lineup of upcoming releases. There is Jumanji: Open World this December and the animated film, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, next fiscal year. The success of theatrical release not only contributes to performance in a single fiscal year, but also generates significant revenue opportunities in the future through post theatrical distribution windows.

We will continue to strive to deliver compelling films by combining our global beloved IP and creative strength with our global marketing and distribution capabilities. Regarding the anime business, which is centered on Crunchyroll, we are combining the strengths of our Sony Group companies to expand our content offering and broaden our reach to fans to achieve sustainable revenue growth. To expand our content offering, we launched Crunchyroll Storyworks. Through this initiative, Crunchyroll, Aniplex and SPE aim to collaborate with Japanese creators to strengthen the adaptation of stories from around the world into anime and produce live-action adaptations of Japanese anime.

To expand our reach to fans, we plan to introduce a dedicated Crunchyroll hub on the PS5 home screen next spring. This new feature aims to capture the cross-demand between games and anime, which share a large overlap in their fan bases, by providing a cross-discovery feature that allows users to seamlessly discover related content. We will continue to focus on expanding our reach by creating in-person fan experiences in collaboration with Japanese publishers and production partners. Through these initiatives, we aim to further raise global awareness of anime, expand our fan base and addressable market and solidify the mid- to long-term revenue growth of the Sony Group's anime-related business. Next is the ET&S segment.

FY '26 Q2 sales decreased slightly year-on-year to JPY 567.8 billion. Operating income increased 5% to JPY 64.1 billion, primarily due to the impact of U.S. tariff refunds despite the impact of the lower sales. The full year forecast remains unchanged from the previous forecast. Although conditions remained challenging in the Imaging business this quarter, primarily due to a slowdown in the Chinese market, we minimized the impact of increased memory cost and lower unit sales on earnings by expanding market share led by new products and by accelerating the shift toward high value-added products.

Regarding the joint venture with TCL, discussions between the 2 companies to finalize the details of the joint venture's organizational structure and operations are progressing smoothly ahead of full-scale operation in April of next year. True RGB BRAVIA, which was launched in June and has been selling well around the world, features a suite of high value-added technologies that are expected to contribute significantly to improving the profitability of our display business this fiscal year. Combined with TCL's business scale and cost competitiveness, we expect these technologies to become a major competitive advantage for the joint venture from next fiscal year. Last is the I&SS segment.

FY '26 Q2 sales decreased 6% year-on-year to JPY 577.6 billion, and operating income increased 12% to JPY 154.6 billion. This was a record high for quarterly operating income. Our sales forecast is essentially unchanged compared with the previous forecast at JPY 2,120 billion. We have increased our operating income forecast 7% compared to the previous forecast to JPY 450 billion. In the smartphone market this quarter, growth declined approximately 20% year-on-year, mainly due to the impact of conditions in the memory market. Although the market for mid-range and lower phones declined significantly, we believe the decline in the high-end market was limited. Shipment volumes of our mobile sensors have trended generally in line with the market.

We expect the proportion of shipments in the first and second halves of this fiscal year to differ from the prior fiscal years due to supply chain inventory levels and changes in customer product cycles. We will continue to adjust our sales forecast for the current fiscal year while monitoring factors such as supply constraints for components used in end-user products such as memory and the impact on demand of rising prices for high-end products. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of our on-site staff and the support of our partner companies, operations at Kumamoto Technology Center, which was damaged by the July 28 Kumamoto earthquake, have already recovered to pre-earthquake levels.

However, we have reflected a loss of approximately JPY 16 billion this fiscal year in our results forecast primarily due to damage to work in progress inventory, equipment repairs and lost opportunities during the production downtime. On August 11, Sony and TSMC signed definitive agreement to establish a joint venture. Through a collaboration with TSMC in the joint venture, we expect both companies to enhance the performance and cost competitiveness of image sensors and drive the creation of new value in the era of physical AI. We also expect to lay the foundation for further improvement in the capital efficiency of this segment over the long term.

While some of the profits we recorded in the first half of FY '26 came from such things as tariff refunds and demand being brought forward, we achieved consolidated operating income of over JPY 1 trillion for the first time in history for either half of the fiscal year. We believe this strong performance was achieved through the symbiotic combination of the stable growth in our distribution platforms, including PlayStation Network and Crunchyroll and hit content driven by our strong IP and creative talent such as Spider-Man, Wolverine and Ella Langley. In our next mid-range plan, which begins next fiscal year, we plan to maintain this momentum and aim for further growth across the ecosystem of the entire Sony Group.

This concludes my presentation. Thank you.

Unknown Executive: So that was announcement from Ms. Lin Tao. From 16:50, we will have the Q&A session for media. And from 17:15, we would have the investors and analyst Q&A session. Q&A session will be 20 minutes each. [Operator Instructions] Please wait a few moments.

Tomoyuki Ishii: We'll be starting the media Q&A session shortly, so please wait a few moments. First, I will introduce you today's presenters. We have Corporate Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, Ms. Lin Tao; Senior Vice President, in charge of Accounting, Mr. Hirotoshi Korenaga; Senior Vice President in charge of Corporate Planning and Control, Mr. Naoya Horii. First, we take questions from the media. [Operator Instructions] Who have a question, please go ahead. First question from Nikkei, Mr. Yoshida, please.

Kenichiro Yoshida: Yes. I am Yoshida from Nikkei. And for the game, I'd like to ask 2 questions. First question is in 2026 full year forecast, the operating income you had revised so that the game software, I think there's an impact from that. But aside from your own software, but the Grand Theft Auto VI, is it because that it is more favorable performance? That is the first question. And the second question is about the next-generation of platform. How is the development going? And I don't think there was an explanation about that. But from this year, so that you are going to have the investment in earnest for the next-generation platform. So please tell us how it is progressing?

Is it progressing according to [ your ] schedule? And also for this year, so G&NS, the development, is it going to surpass the FY 2025? Is that correct? So those 2 questions, please.

Lin Tao: All right. Thank you for the question. And the first question is that for the operation -- operating income, operating profit, so that we had revised upwards. And the reason is that third-party software itself had surpassed our expectations. And that as I have been saying, in MAU of September, so we had 127 million accounts, and then the play time has been quite favorable. So engagement itself is quite good, going on very nicely. So third-party sales is due to those high engagement of the game players. And for those titles that we are going to be releasing, I cannot go into the details of what we are going to do, but we have very high expectations towards that.

And for the second question, so this is a next-generation R&D. We are progressing as scheduled. So for the next-generation investment, so the second half would be a large impact of the investment amount. And the development itself is on schedule. And maybe there are some changes due to the accounting rules so that maybe that can be made in next year, not this year. Thank you.

Tomoyuki Ishii: We would now move on to the next question. Toyo Keizai, Yamashita-san, please.

Unknown Attendee: So this is Yamashita from Toyo Keizai. I have 2 questions. The first question about looking at the year-to-date for the second half, you have upwardly revised the operating income. So the year-to-date, how much was the upside compared to your original estimation? And the second question is about your gaming business. About securing, so you mentioned that you are deciding how to secure the memories for the next year. GTA 6 launch might be one of the reasons the users will purchase the new PlayStation. So hardware sales, will it be the same as normal years? So what is your expectations on hardware sales next year?

Unknown Executive: Your first question is about the operating income year-to-date operating income, how much was it higher than originally forecasted? Horii-san will explain later. And I will answer the second question. So will -- GTA is encouraging users to repurchase the hardware? And what is the outlook for the next year? This year, after -- even after the price adjustment of hardware, sell-in and [ sell-in ] had good momentum. On the other hand, the hardware life cycle gradually, we are expecting less sales of new hardware. So for new hardware sales, in terms of units, this will go down gradually. So about the -- but we want to manage the profitability of hardware without incurring big losses.

In addition to that, we already have about 100 million units of PS5 installed. And also, there are PS4 users amounting to 127 million accounts and how we can have these players play and increase their engagement. This will be our focus. About the first half, we would like Horii-san to answer.

Naoya Horii: So looking at the performance expectations per quarter, we do not disclose. So my answer will be qualitative. In the second quarter, the upside of Spider-Man was the biggest factor. In addition to that, there was strong gaming engagement. So these were the 2 main reasons for increased revenue and profitability. So the extent is about 4 digits. Thank you.

Tomoyuki Ishii: The next question, please. Freelance, Nishida-san, please.

Unknown Attendee: This is Nishida. I have 2 questions. First, well, we see increase in cyberattacks. And what impact is it having on Sony? Well, as for the SIE network for the family account, there seems to be some impact, but other business is included. For example, what are you investing in to come up with measures, what monitoring are you carrying out? So what sort of impact is it having on your business? The second question about the image sensors for smartphones and the market conditions. Can you elaborate? Currently, I think that there is a weakening in the market, but the Chinese market impact included, especially your high-end market where you are strong?

How do you predict the market to develop, please?

Lin Tao: The first question, I will respond. The second will be by Horii about the cyberattack impact. First of all, we are aware that there have been a series of incidents, and we, as management, take this seriously. And we apologize to the customers and stakeholders to whom we have inconvenienced. We would like to take this opportunity to express our apologies. Now as for the specifics, well, there are different incidents, and I cannot give the details, but cyberattacks are becoming more complex and sophisticated. And even more in the past, we recognize that we need to put in measures. And going forward, well, because we can use AI on the defense side as well.

So including that, we want to increase its priority and take out corporate-wide activities. About the smartphone shipment, Horii will respond.

Naoya Horii: Yes. Thank you for the question. Well, smartphone product market situation, well, there are different survey companies, which are providing us with data. But basically, the low end and midrange dip versus the high end. I think the impact is less in the high end. I think there is a difference in situation between these 2 segments. Well, mainly in China, the high-end market is, well, amongst the brands, there are quite a different situation. And the manufacturers, which have a large share, are becoming stronger and those others are losing their share. That is what we're seeing right now. That is our understanding. Now as for the future, we have to exercise prudence.

We have to observe more carefully the market before making a judgment. That is all.

Tomoyuki Ishii: All right. So we go to the next question. From Sankei Newspaper, Takagi-san please.

Unknown Attendee: Yes. This is Takagi from Sankei Newspaper. Yes, I have one question about the cyberattack, related to the cyberattack. So you said that you're not going to the details, individual matters, but the SIE, so what happened at SIE, I don't think that there's any formal announce yet. But SNS, we hear on the social media that the customers have very much concerned about what happened. So the PlayStation service, regarding the PlayStation service, what kind of the cyberattack impact do you have? Can you explain about that?

Lin Tao: Yes. Thank you for the question. So about the PlayStation, kind of impact of the cyberattack. So we are now making the investigation and that, yes, we had already taken measures to counter this attack. And for the customers who had been impacted, we had already took appropriate measures. So please understand that we have taken appropriate measures. Thank you.

Tomoyuki Ishii: Let's move on to the next question. [Operator Instructions] There seems to be no more questions. So we would like to close the Q&A session for the media. The Q&A session for investors and analysts will begin at 5:10 p.m.

Shunsuke Shinchi: Thank you for waiting. We will now take questions from investors and analysts. I am Shinchi from the IR department, and I will be serving as your moderator. And the same three panelists from the media session will answer your questions. So please let us now begin the Q&A session. [Operator Instructions]. Munakata-san from Goldman Sachs.

Minami Munakata: I am Munakata from Goldman Sachs. I have 2 questions. Number one is about gaming. And the second question is about the overall situation. About the gaming business, you mentioned that the engagement has been rising. The MAU play time is already very high. So thinking about next year onwards, do you think there will be further upside to the engagement next year onward? What type of users do you think will be more active? This month, there will be a launch of a big title. So there will be big momentum in the holiday season. But how do you think the market will keep on growing in the -- continuously? That is my first question.

Second question, the entertainment business, you have upwardly revised that is gaming, Music and Pictures. So your capability to generate revenue and profit is increasing. And I think your communication with investors is getting more active because the next mid-range plan will be starting from next year. So which businesses do you think will have still room for growth? And what will be the driver? Maybe it's not one single business, but ecosystem as a whole. But please give us hints on where the upsides reside.

Lin Tao: Thank you for the question. About your first question, gaming, how we see increase of MAU and engagement next year onward. For us, MAU, playtime and ARPU. The monetization part, the ARPU, especially, will become very important KPIs. MAU and playtime is depending on how interesting the game titles are. And the game, which is about to be launched, I think, will be a big catalyst on increasing these KPIs. GTA VI there will be contribution this fiscal year. But even looking at series games titles in the past, these games have driven the growth for multiple years. So I think this new title will be contributing even after next year, but this is not the only driver.

There are thousands of game titles on the PlayStation platform already, 1 or 2. And also, there may be surprise hits, which we do not yet anticipate. So that is what is interesting about the gaming business. So I think these highly -- high variation of interesting games will be driving engagement. And about your second question about the overall picture and where the upsides are, there are many upsides. First of all, finally, in my opinion, we have been investing on entertainment for many years. And finally, we are seeing mega hits every year, and we will be able to deploy the IP in a very multilateral, multifaceted manner. So we are now going into that stage.

And looking at the platform, not only PlayStation Network, Crunchyroll is growing and also cross-discovery of PlayStation and Crunchyroll, I think the platform will be activated further. In addition to that, the semiconductor joint venture with TSMC. Up till now, Sony was advancing linearly, but this JV will bring a new way for us to advance and grow. So I have high expectation on that, too. Thank you.

Shunsuke Shinchi: Thank you. Thank you, Munakata-san. Next question, BofA Securities, Hirakawa-san, please.

Mikio Hirakawa: My name is Hirakawa from BofA Securities. Well, it's a short-run question, but about gaming. And the memory prices are rising. And you said that you have secured the necessary volume. But next fiscal year, if you were to introduce a new console, I think that the game profitability will decline as a result of having to make investment. And so for the next fiscal year's memory price and forecast, well, is it to the level that you can absorb it for pricing policies? And in case of new console, for example, at the gross margin level, will there be a break? So can you explain about your forecast for next fiscal year?

The second, from next fiscal year, image sensor strategic customer share will not be 100%. And so you are communicating with the strategic customers. What sort of scenario can you anticipate? On our part, I think that your strong position will remain in place, but can you explain about the impact?

Lin Tao: About your question regarding our gaming business and the profitability from next fiscal year onward. As you say, the memory prices will be one of the challenges the management will face. Well, on our part, well, I'm looking at the gaming business on the whole. One of the most important index is at the healthy game platform. Well, we have 127 million accounts and how actively they engage and how we can monetize in a sound way will be key to supporting our profitability. In addition to that, from next fiscal year onward, there will be the investment for the new platform. And for future growth, we have to attach great importance to our new platform.

We have to make the necessary investments for that. But we have to support this soundness of our platform and try to think how rationally we can invest in our platform, and we can announce that at appropriate timing in the future. About your second question, about our major customers and image sensor customers. About our customers' procurement strategy. Well, we are not in a position to comment. But on our part, we do have to assume certain scenarios. I cannot give you the details, but in general, the customers will source from different sources. I think this is normal business practice that we must assume.

In line with that, of course, our company have to think about our production capacity in line with the scenarios that we are assuming. Well, for us, what does this mean? Well, basically, well, technical competitiveness, cost competitiveness need to be maintained. Well, I think there will be fierce competition. And so what we can control is our technical superiority and cost superiority. And with that in mind, from next fiscal year and after, we will make the plans. Does Mr. Horii have something to add? Thank you.

Naoya Horii: Well, speed will be key, I think. And we have to try to adapt to the changing environment and run our business next fiscal year and onward. The TSMC collaboration that we've announced this time, well, amidst this fierce competition, in order for us to win, we have to work with them and work on both our technical and cost front and win in the market ultimately. That is all. Thank you.

Shunsuke Shinchi: Thank you, Hirakawa-san. All right. So next question. So from JPMorgan Securities, Ayada-san, please.

Junya Ayada: I'm Ayada from JPMorgan Securities. I have 2 questions. For the gaming, the second quarter actual and the full year estimate. And for the second quarter, as you have been explaining to us that second quarter active user had increased and the play time has increased very strong. So that I'd like to ask the background factors, how do you analyze why it was so strong? And first quarter to second quarter, is the case that it goes down, but it hasn't been the case this time. So maybe there was a special factor for that. That is the first point.

And the second question is about for the same gaming industry about the profit going up, but the cost improvement, you have said, but the cost improvement what kind of a cost improvement? Is it due to the development or is it for the sales promotion or other cost factors? And if possible, please tell us about the hardware. So it was 9 million at the beginning of the quarter, but then is there any change to that?

Lin Tao: All right. Thank you very much for the question. And first of all, the second quarter engagement, the background factors to that. And the gaming engagement in most cases, depend on the way people play the games. So it's not everything due to the seasonality factors. And in that sense, if you have the large-scale titles, well, for those of you to play, the big titles has been launched the new season and then the engagement would go up. So that's usually the case that goes up with the big titles release. And in any sense, it's very positive that people play longer hours and engage.

So we have big titles that will be launched very shortly so that we hope that those momentum of having high engagement in the platform is a very good performance for us. And the second one about the cost improvement. So the forecast, well, compared to the last time forecast, we can see cost improvement. That's your question, right? So that is because for the next-generation title development, timing is different. So the next-generation investment itself, we are on schedule, but some of them, the accrual basis is different so that it's going to be on next year's. So because of the lag in the timing of the quarters. And then about the hardware sales, how many units we expect.

So we had 9 million at the beginning of the quarter as a guidance. And then I refrain from saying the actual numbers, but what we had said at the initial period, we are having more units than what we have prepared at the initial stage.

Shunsuke Shinchi: [Operator Instructions] Next question. SMBC Nikko Securities, Katsura-san, please.

Ryosuke Katsura: I am Katsura from SMBC Nikko Securities. I have 2 questions. Number one is about I&SS. And the second question is overall. About I&SS, due to the change in the new product launch, you said the seasonality will change from the past. And looking at the appendix, the capacity and wafer input, the actual wafer input went down. I think that was impacted by the Kumamoto earthquake. So that -- I want to confirm that. And also, how do you perceive seasonality? Will this be leveled more or -- and also how you hold inventory? Before, you had high inventory in Q2 and Q4, while Q4, Q1 had lower performance. So please let me confirm that.

And how to -- how you spend the money. Looking at the cash flow from operating activities, JPY 1.6 trillion. So you have upwardly revised by JPY 100 billion. And the business -- looking at the business environment of entertainment as a whole, so how you will be investing and how you see the environment and how you see the target -- potential targets of investments. So please elaborate on your strategic investment.

Lin Tao: Thank you for the question. About your first question, was about the production and how we hold inventory for semiconductors. Horii-san will be answering that question later. And second question was about capital allocation and strategic investment, which I will first respond to. You are right when you say our operating cash flow has been upwardly revised. In the midterm, the current midterm, the -- our operating cash flow generation capacity has increased steadily. Currently, we -- while we invest in the growth investment, while keeping the financial health, we still have room to increase shareholder returns. About the strategic investment, we have already made the decision on JPY 1.5 trillion of strategic investment.

And we continue to -- we will continue to strategically invest mainly in the entertainment business. So Horii-san will now answer the first question on semiconductor.

Naoya Horii: So this is impacted by the timing of the launch of the new products by the customers. So as you say, the third quarter had highest volume because there was this end of the year sale. But this fiscal year, some of the new products were not launched back in September. So for the second half, there was some impact to the volume in the second half. But we are talking about the cycle here. But once this cycle transition is complete, it's just a matter of timing. So I don't think there will be much impact on the full year volume. But this fiscal year is a transition period.

So that really changed the balance between the first and second half. And your second -- there was -- you also had a question about the volume of the wafer input. The input of the wafers have actually gone down. And as you say, this was impacted by the Kumamoto earthquake. That's all. Thank you.

Shunsuke Shinchi: Time is limited. So the next will be the last question. SBI Securities, [indiscernible], please.

Unknown Analyst: First question. There seems to be an audio problem. The Americans are suffering from high interest rates, likewise in Europe.

Lin Tao: Thank you for the question. But as a holiday season, we are seeing inflation worldwide. And how do we see the business given this environment? I think, was the question. Well, yes, inflation is on the rise worldwide. And especially for the hardware, we are seeing high prices and prices rising. This is something that we are paying attention to. And because of high prices, how the demand will change is something that we have to look out for because we are selling the end product. It is an important indicator. But other than hardware, when it comes to content and service, it is less impacted by inflation and such a business environment.

Our entertainment business, it accounts for 70% of our net sales and profit. And this impact -- well, the inflation impact is less. But we have to continue to see how inflation will affect the consumption behavior. That is all. Thank you.

Shunsuke Shinchi: It's time for us to end our Sony Group earnings announcement. Once again, thank you for your attendance. [Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]

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