Hiroki Totoki, recently-appointed head of Sony’s mobile devices division, said that profitability is its immediate focus rather than growing shipment volumes or market share, according to reports.

The executive said he is looking to “carry out structural reforms to make sure the company structure becomes robust so that we can take on new challenges”, according to Financial Times. These fixes will be complete within 12 months, with the aim to achieve stable profits from April 2016.

Sony had previously been looking at growing its sales.

Echoing the strategy of market leader Samsung, Sony is looking to rationalise its portfolio to focus on fewer, and more profitable, devices. Among the casualties for the Japanese company will be devices specifically targeting China, as well as some of its mid-tier smartphones.

The comments come as Sony issued financial targets for the year to 31 March 2018 – although while guidance was provided for all its other business units, figures for the Mobile Communications unit will be announced later.

For the year to 31 March 2015, Sony is expecting to see an operating loss from the mobile business of JPY204 billion ($1.7 billion), on sales of JPY1.35 trillion.

The company has already recorded an impairment charge of JPY176.0 billion related to its mobile business.

One of Sony’s other businesses – Devices – stands to benefit from the strength of rival smartphone makers. The unit supplies components such as camera modules, which can also be used in product categories such as wearables.