Japan's Sony has suffered a first half net loss of $360.8m, battered by problems with its mobile phone business and the global technology slump.
The electronics and entertainment giant's net loss for the six months to September was less severe than the figure for last year, however.
There were losses in Sony's mobile phone handset business, while a disappointing performance by the electronics division also depressed earnings. Overall first half sales edged up by just over 5%.
'Decreased demand and severe price competition became more prevalent, reflecting further economic slowdowns in all major regions including the US, Europe, Japan and Asia,' the firm said in a statement.
Demand for Sony's electronics goods worldwide slipped, with sales in the US down 10% from a year earlier and those in Europe down a little over 10%. Domestic sales inched 1.5% lower and Sony said the outlook for the rest of the year was grim.
But the company still hopes to make a profit in the full year due to an expected revival of the games division. The firm has already slashed its profit forecast to March 2002 in the wake of the suicide attacks in the US, and kept the revised figures unchanged.
Sony, which only recently branched out into the mobile telecommunications market, has suffered a spate of handset recalls due to glitches in its software.
