Sony revises third quarter profit upwards in official announcement
Japanese consumer electronics maker Sony Corp (6758.T) said on Tuesday its official third-quarter operating profit was 182 billion yen ($1.5 billion), up 2.2 percent from the estimate it reported last month, boosted by cost cuts and strong sales of sensors and videogames. The earlier estimate wasn't final, as Sony had not yet compiled accurate data for its Hollywood movie studio after a massive hack into its computer systems. On Feb.4 Sony said third-quarter operating profit was about 178 billion yen, nearly double year-earlier.On Tuesday, Sony said that including official results for the movie studio, quarterly revenue rose 6.5 percent from a year earlier to 2.567 trillion yen, instead of the 2.558 trillion it estimated earlier.Forecasts for the full-year ending March 31 were unchanged.Sony has struggled to gain market share in high-end smartphones, lagging far behind Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS). But its shares have risen more than 30 percent so far this year on hopes of a turnaround, following a program of massive cuts in unprofitable segments and targeted expansion in lucrative areas such as sensors for smartphone cameras. ($1 = 121.3800 yen)