A：For the third quarter of the fiscal year 2025, sales increased 1% year on year to 313.7 billion, and operating income increased 22% to 515 billion, setting record highs for the third quarter.

A：The Games segment is expected to have sales of 4,630 billion and operating income of 510 billion for fiscal year 2025, which is a 4% increase in sales forecast and a 2% increase in operating income forecast from the previous forecast.

A：The company plans to release new titles such as 'Arrows' and 'Marvel's Wolverine', and intends to enhance efforts to increase the revenue of its studio business. Additionally, established live service titles contributed stable recurring revenue and are expected to continue supporting financial results.

A：The sales forecast for the Music segment was upwardly revised to 2,050 billion, and the operating income forecast was also revised upwards, incorporating a remeasurement gain from the acquisition of an additional equity interest in Peanuts Holdings.

A：The Picture segment is expected to have sales of 9,900 billion and operating income of 840 billion for fiscal year 2025, which is a decrease of 11% in sales and 9% in operating income from the same quarter of the previous fiscal year.

A：Sony's additional investment in Peanuts IP aims to gain ownership of the rights and business of Peanuts, one of the world's leading evergreen IPs. The goal is to grow the scale of the business, increase the brand value, and utilize Sony Group's strength to enhance music, video, and event business while making Peanuts IP accessible to a wider audience worldwide.

A：Despite continued sales decline in China due to reduced government subsidies and weakness in the market, the global interchangeable lens camera market experienced strong demand, particularly in Asia. The Alpha 7 Mark V is expected to contribute to sales in the fourth quarter.

A：Sony and Tcl formed a strategic partnership through a joint venture that aims to operate Sony's home entertainment business, combining Sony's high-definition and high-fidelity technology with Tcl's advanced display technology and vertical supply chain strength.

A：The InSS segment's sales increased 21% year on year and operating income rose 35%, with these results primarily driven by an increase in sales volume and unit prices of mobile image sensors.

A：The InSS segment has upwardly revised its sales forecast 5% to ¥2080 billion and operating income forecast 13% to 350 billion, influenced by increased sales volume and unit prices of mobile image sensors and the impact of foreign exchange rates. The supply chain concerns have receded due to stable recent orders, and the impact of the memory market situation is expected to be small as Sony's image sensors primarily serve the high-end market.

A：Sony is focusing on resource and asset optimization for the low-margin business, which is reflected in the forecast for FY 25 Q4. The company is continuing to monitor the situation closely with customers and taking action to improve the business portfolio and profitability.

A：The strategic significance of the live service game lies in the recurring revenue it provides, which is more stable than volatility-driven revenue from high studio games. It offers a constant amount of revenue every year. Having multiple platforms is not the main goal; rather, the idea is to integrate live service games into a portfolio management style.

A：The market's valuation of the Sony group's stock price is quite severe, with the stock performance not improving despite announced earnings. The market capitalization needs to be raised, and share buybacks are being continued to support the stock price. However, the exact reasons for the market's perception are not fully explained in the provided text.

A：Sony's strategy to optimize its business fundamentals and improve profitability is to focus on the core strength of the business and enhance its financial performance. This, in turn, will allow the company to better communicate its approach to the stock market and potentially improve the valuation of its stock.

A：Sony's strategic partnership with TCL aims to combine Sony's accumulated assets with TCL's strengths in home entertainment, including TV, to foster growth through a joint venture. This partnership is a result of a review of Sony's portfolio and is focused on optimization. The details regarding the scope of the business covered by this partnership are still being discussed, but it includes TV and home audio, and will be communicated to the public at an appropriate timing.

A：The rising memory prices will have some impact on Sony's game business, particularly on the PlayStation 5 due to cost increases. However, this impact is expected to be in the latter part of the life cycle of the current hardware. Sony has not provided a direct impact assessment but mentioned that there are various options available to manage this issue. The decision to launch a lower-priced model of the PlayStation for the Japanese market in the latter half of the life cycle suggests that Sony is adapting to cost increases while still catering to different market needs. The full financial impact from introducing this new model is not yet quantified, but it is clear that it is part of Sony's strategy to manage the lifecycle costs and market demands.

A：The strategy behind releasing a more reasonably-priced model in Japan was to enhance the presence of PlayStation in the Japanese market, make it more affordable for both publishers and users, and to create an uplift in sell-through. This model was not just for a seasonal effort but was intended for the mid to long term to have a strategic impact, encouraging more users to buy to support the creation of great games.

A：The impact on playtime and spending during the holiday season could be influenced by various factors, including the economic cycle, business cycle, or console cycle. However, it is noted that active users have increased, playtime is flat, and software network revenue is going up despite an apparent dwindling in value or volume. The exact reason for this is unclear, but it could be related to economic or console cycles, the title lineup, or changes in how people allocate their time.

A：The concern is about the potential impact of AI on the entertainment industry, specifically on platforms like PlayStation and CrunchRoll, and how casual content usage might be affected. The impact could be positive if it leads to more content production, but it could be negative if it causes users to spend less time on more substantive content creation. The effect varies depending on the type of content and the methods of production and distribution.

A：The potential impact of AI on music production, game development, and animation is seen as having a high affinity between AI and these fields. The integration of AI is anticipated to lead to the creation of more content in the long term, altering the development and production process from idea to game. However, it's still too early to predict the precise impact on cost and existing processes, and it is emphasized that Sony is promoting the use of AI in game production.

A：The certainty and risk associated with achieving the mid-term business plan depend on each business segment. The current year is going smoothly, and there is momentum due to strong memories, but there are concerns about future earnings due to memory price surges. The company is managing these risks, and the profitability is a focus. Sony is confident in the sustainability of the next year's plans, particularly in the gaming segment, and will provide more details in the earnings results for the 2025 fiscal year.

A：Final product manufacturers should maintain close contact with customers to understand their needs and take appropriate measures based on the memory market conditions. Due to the nature of the business, manufacturers are somewhat passive in responding to these conditions, but the proactive approach involves aligning with customers and being aware of their requirements. For the upcoming year, the company believes it has a good foundation in place to address these market conditions.

A：The home entertainment separation will be handled by continuing the operations of E and S (which presumably stands for Entertainment and Sports) with its budget and joint ventures, while structural reforms will be optimized based on the business situation.

A：The decrease in third-quarter profitability for gaming was mainly due to the end-of-year promotion of the hardware and the addition to the Japan domestic model, which led to many users purchasing the console and consequently lower profit in the short term.

A：A one-time cost of 20 billion is being factored into the fourth quarter, which includes inventory adjustments and some assets' depreciation and amortization acceleration.

A：Sony views generative AI as both an opportunity and a potential threat, acknowledging the challenges it poses in game creation due to the ease of creating content. However, Sony believes in the importance of human creativity and the use of AI as a tool to enhance and expedite content creation for the benefit of creators and entertainment.