Tokyo – Rising sales of plasma displays for home use and DVD home theater systems in North America helped boost the year’s overseas sales of audio/video (A/V) products 2.8 percent at Pioneer.
Sales reached $1.09 billion in the fiscal 12 months, ended March 31, up from $1.06 billion in the year-ago period.
Total A/V sales at Pioneer last year climbed 2.4 percent, to $1.47 billion, compared with $1.44 billion in the same 12 months last year.
The company said, ongoing, it is focusing its resources on DVD and plasma displays. It is shifting DVD emphasis from price-competitive players and DVD-ROM drives to higher value-added DVD recorders and DVD-R/RW drives for PCs.
A rise in sales of car audio products in North America, especially a radio tuner for digital satellite broadcasting that started in the United States last year, helped raise overseas sales of car electronics 6.5 percent, to $1.2 billion, up from $1.1 billion the previous year.
Overall car electronics sales at Pioneer increased 6.7 percent, reaching $2 billion, compared with the previous year’s $1.8 billion.
The company’s total electronics business last year climbed 3.6 percent, hitting $4.6 billion, up from $4.4 billion.
Pioneer’s A/V software sales jumped 9.8 percent, thanks to help from increasing DVD software sales in North America, to $329.6 million, up from $300 million in the same 12 months last year. Overseas sales were flat, at $92.3 million.
Combining its net sales and royalty income for the past 12 months, Pioneer enjoyed a record revenue of $5 billion, up 3.4 percent from the previous year’s $4.9 billion. Sales, alone, totaled $4.9 billion for the 12 months, compared with $4.7 billion year over year.
Net income for the 12 months hit $60.5 million, compared with $137.6 million the previous year.
Looking ahead, Pioneer expects an 8 percent increase in sales for fiscal 2003, reaching $5.4 billion. Net income is expected to come in 37 percent higher for fiscal 2003, at $82.7 million.
