Sony shoots for $10 billion in Blu-ray sales by 2011

Sony said it expects its Blu-ray Disc-related business to approach $10 billion in annual revenue within three years, while returning its games and liquid-crystal display TV operations to profitability.

The company’s goal is to add Blu-ray-related operations to its portfolio of “trillion yen businesses” ($9.27 billion), which include LCD TVs, gaming and mobile phones, by the fiscal year ending March 31, 2011, Sony said in a statement this morning. Sony also said its personal computer and semiconductor businesses would reach this threshold.

Studios and entertainment analysts have predicted that Blu-ray sales would more than triple this year to about $1 billion largely because Toshiba discontinued its competing HD DVD format in February, spelling an end to the so-called “format war.” The Entertainment Merchants Assn. said this week that Blu-ray revenue would surge to about $9.5 billion in 2012, overtaking sales of standard-definition discs in the process.

Sony earlier this month said its electronics division’s operating income for the year ended March 31 more than doubled to 356 billion yen ($3.3 billion) as electronics sales rose 8.9% to 6.61 trillion yen ($61.3 billion). The company didn’t break out Blu-ray-related sales or earnings.

The company also said its games unit will be profitable for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2009, because of a wider range of titles and reduced production costs for its PlayStation 3 games console. For the most recent fiscal year, Sony’s games unit had an operating loss of 124.5 billion yen ($1.15 billion) despite a 26% jump in sales.

Additionally, Sony expects its liquid-crystal-display TV business to be the world’s largest within three years. For the first quarter, Sony’s 13% market share trailed only Samsung’s 20% among global LCD TV units, though in North America, the company was leapfrogged by closely held Vizio.

Finally, the company said 90% of its electronics categories would be both network-connectable and wireless-enabled in an attempt to capitalize on its leadership position in LCD TVs, high-definition DVD players and game consoles.