FY 2014 was set to be the year that Sony would put its troubles behind and begin turning a profit. A key part of this initiative was to be Sony Mobile, the division which oversees development of the company’s Xperia smartphone and tablets. While Sony has mounted huge losses over the years, it was expected that FY 2014 would result in a modest $500 million loss and with full profitability in the years to follow. Unfortunately for Sony and its investors, due to stiff competition on the high-end from Apple and the cut throat nature of the low-end market due to a flood of devices from China, Sony will likely post a $2.1 billion loss for FY 2014.

Now comes news that Sony may once again revise its sales forecast for the worse and come well below their already lowered target.

During FY 2013, Sony sold 39 million smartphones. Having seen year over year sales rise, Sony predicted a bullish but attainable sales forecast of 50 million smartphones for FY 2014. During their most recent earnings report, the company lowered that forecast by 7 million, down to 43 million units sold for FY 2014. Now comes word from the Wall Street Journal that Sony will likely:

 trim its smartphone sales target by several millions of units 

At this point it’s hard to tell how big that several million number is though many believe that Sony will likely end the year flat, compared to 2013. While not completely disastrous, it means that Sony was unable to gain any grounds in FY 2014, and it will be marked as one more lost year for the struggling Japanese giant. It’s also unclear if this further reduction if true will have any greater impact for Sony’s revised $2.1 billion loss.

On the plus side for Sony, the company still believes that they can return to profitability in FY 2015. Sony has also been able to expand its partnership in the US for the Xperia Z3 with carrier support from T-Mobile and Verizon. This comes on the heels of well-received reviews for the latest flagship from Sony. If Sony is able to turn the partnership in a meaningful moment for the company and capitalize on it, they will still have a chance at having some stake in the mobile market.

Sony isn’t the only company struggling in mobile. Samsung recently announced a 60% reduction in profits, thanks to stiff competition from Apple and the same low-end squeeze from Chinese manufacturers. I’d previously outlined what Sony can learn from Samsung’s dramatic fall that is likely continue.

Discuss:

Do you think Sony will finish the year flat, ahead, or behind their FY 2013 sales?

[Via WSJ]