Sony Group Corporation (NYSE:SONY) Q3 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

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And as far as our business is concerned, currently the smartphone and low end and mid end are going down, and the TVs our demand is weak. And I mentioned that, I can say that. And this is something that was foreseeable to a certain extent. So as far as we are concerned, we think we are prepared, but from the fourth quarter to the first part of next fiscal year, we are going to the right risk control. And so we’re prepared for the next phase and the next momentum, so we will not be left behind then when the next momentum increases. And that is the overall view at this point in time. Thank you.

Operator: Thank you very much. Now it is time. So, we would like to conclude the Q&A session for the investors and analyst.

Naomi Matsuoka: Thank you very much. Now it is time. So, we would like to conclude the Q&A session for the investors and analysts. Now we would like to start the .

Operator: Now we would like to move onto entertaining questions from the media. Those of you who have any question in the hall, please raise your hand. Those of you participating online, if you have question, please press asterisk followed by one in this hall. Microphone will be brought to you if you raise your hand, because the time is limited, I would like to ask you to limit yourself to one question per person. Now, if you have any question, please raise your question. Now, in the middle fourth row.

Unidentified Analyst: is my name. Not directly related to earnings announcement, about semiconductor business, I have a question. In Kumamoto, you have built, you are considering building a new plant in Kumamoto. What is the current situation of considering the plant in Kumamoto?

Naomi Matsuoka: Thank you for your question. It’s not something that we have made an announcement of. So this is based upon speculation, and I would like to refrain from making, responding to the question, but generally speaking, image sensor markets growth in the mid to long-term and based upon that, consideration for expanding the production capacity is always considered not limited to specific location, but widely, we are considering that. And if there’s anything that is decided, then we’ll like to inform you immediately. Thank you.

Operator: And I would like to move on to the next question. Next question, please. So in the center, two rows from the front and the second from the left.

Unidentified Analyst: My name is . And one question, and as for entertainment, music and pictures, and what is your strength as the conglomerate and centering around entertainment business and the macroeconomic situation has been lot improving. And that should be a driving force for you to maintain the good business performance. For the next fiscal year, and you are expecting further more solidifications of the user basis. So, what is your strength in that environment, how you can take the leverage of your corporate strength for that environment for the entertainment, related to being conglomerate. And we may have, you may have a conglomerate discount, that might be negative factors for you. And if there is any discount, discounting factors, how are you going to minimize those factors and how you should address to those the elements?

Hiroki Totoki: Thank you for your questions. And as to the strength being conglomerate, we have the diversified businesses, diversified businesses, probably that they are not so closely related. So, and all of the sectors do not go along at the same time. So, and that should be one of the strengths for us to have multiple businesses. That’s the same concept of the portfolio management. As for conglomerate discount, there should be many people saying different things. And as I talked in the presentations, as for the entertainment, three businesses, we have the Transmedia and we have a quite strong synergy effect between the different business areas and that that’s almost visible in the financial figures. And we can expect some good circulation and the benign cycles for the bottom up the effects.

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