The performance of Sony’s Xperia smartphone line was one of the bright spots in an otherwise tough year for the Japanese electronics giant.

For the fiscal year ending 31 March, Sony’s Mobile Products & Communications (MP&C) division reported sales and operating revenue of JPY1.63 trillion ($16.0 billion), a 29.6 per cent year-on-year increase.

As has been the case for some time, revenue growth from smartphones was partly offset by falling PC sales.

The company attributed the increase in sales for the division to the “increase in unit sales of smartphones and an increase in the average selling price of smartphones”, as well as favourable foreign exchange changes.

For the year Sony, sold 39.1 million smartphones, compared with 33 million for the previous twelve months, but short of the 42 million originally forecast.

The company shifted 8.8 million smartphones in the most recent quarter, down from 10.7 million in the previous quarter (which includes the lucrative Christmas holiday sales period), but up from 8.1 million in the same quarter a year ago.

The company forecast it will sell 50 million handsets during the current fiscal year. With the Xperia Z1 and Z1 Compact being well received and demand for the new flagship Xperia Z2 (pictured) appearing to exceed Sony’s expectations, this could be a feasible sales target.

Despite the revenue increase, the MP&C division still reported a loss for the year: JPY75.0 billion compared with JPY97.2 billion a year earlier.

The narrowed loss was partly due to the improving operating performance of the mobile phone business, but this was offset by restructuring charges and operating losses in the PC business totalling JPY78.8 billion.

Around JPY45.5 billion of this loss was costs related to Sony’s decision to exit the PC business, which was announced alongside its Q3 results in February.

For the quarter ending 31 March, the MP&C division reported sales and operating income of JPY361.0 billion, up 2.3 per cent year-on-year. Operating loss was JPY67.5 billion, compared with a loss of JPY24.6 billion a year earlier.

Looking to the future, the renamed Mobile Communications division, which will no longer be grouped with the PC business, is forecast to achieve FY2014 sales of JPY1.53 trillion, a 28.4 per cent year-on-year increase once PCs are excluded from the previous year’s mix.

Operating income for the division in FY2014 is forecast to be JPY26 billion, up from JPY12.6 billion a year earlier.

Sony as a whole reported sales and operating revenue for the 2013 fiscal year of JPY7.77 trillion, up 14.3 per cent year on year. However, it reported a net loss of JPY128.4 billion compared with a net income of JPY41.5 billion in 2012.

For the next fiscal year, Sony forecast a slight improvement in sales and operating revenue (JPY7.8 trillion) and a reduced loss of JPY50 billion.