Sony reported a bump in income for its mobile unit in the quarter to 31 December, although its focus on profitability has taken an anticipated toll on unit volumes.

The unit reported a Q3 profit of JPY24.1 billion ($199.3 million), more than doubled from JPY10.4 billion in the prior year quarter, on revenue which decreased 14.7 per cent to JPY384.5 billion.

The profitability gain was attributed to an improvement in product mix as a result of a shift to “high value-added models”, as well as reductions in costs.

The company shipped 7.6 million units in the quarter, compared with 11.9 million in the prior-year quarter.

For the full year, it has also trimmed its anticipated full year smartphone volumes to 25 million units, from an earlier forecast of 27 million – and compared with 39.1 million in the last full year.

This has been accompanied by a JPY50 billion cut in the full year sales forecast for the division.

On a group level, Sony reported a profit of JPY120.1 billion, up 33.5 per cent year-on-year, on revenue of JPY2.58 trillion, up 0.5 per cent.

While it noted profitability increases in divisions including Pictures and Games & Network Services, it also saw a “significant deterioration” in its components business.

The components weakness was down to “a significant decrease in sales of image sensors, reflecting a decrease in demand for mobile products, and a significant decrease in battery business sales”, with the unit also recording a JPY30.6 billion impairment charge.