TOKYO — Japan's Sony Corp. announced Friday a quarterly loss of 290 million dollars, hit by weak demand for televisions, cameras and other electronic goods, but it upgraded its outlook for the rest of the year.
The electronics giant posted a smaller-than-expected net loss of 26.3 billion yen for the fiscal second quarter through September, swinging into the red after a 20.8-billion-yen profit a year earlier.
It logged an operating loss of 32.6 billion yen, compared with a profit of 11.0 billion in the same period of 2008. Revenue declined 19.8 percent year-on-year to 1.66 trillion yen.
The maker of Bravia televisions, PlayStation game consoles and Cyber-shot cameras maintained its forecast for its first back-to-back annual losses since it was listed on the stock market in 1958.
But it narrowed its loss forecast for the year to 95 billion yen from a previous projection of 120 billion.
Sony chief executive Howard Stringer is slashing 16,000 jobs and axing about 10 percent of the group's manufacturing plants in a bid to return to profit.
The company has had a difficult few years in the face of tough competition from rival products such as Apple's iPod and Nintendo's Wii. In May Sony announced its first annual loss in 14 years.
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