Tokyo – Sales of DVD home theater systems in North America, as well as the depreciating yen, helped boost overseas sales of audio/video (A/V) products at Pioneer during the company’s fiscal third quarter.
Overseas A/V sales climbed 17.2 percent, hitting $356.3 million, up from $304.2 million in the year-ago period.
Total A/V product sales increased 15.2 percent in the third quarter ended Dec. 31, reaching $490.8 million compared with $426.1 million in the same three months in 2000.
The increase in the yen’s depreciation more than offset falling sales of overseas car audio sales at Pioneer, with overseas sales rising 4.7 percent, to $291.8 million, up from $278.8 million in the same quarter the prior year. Intensified competition took the blame for decreasing car audio sales.
Overall car electronics product sales jumped 6.9 percent, reaching $500.7 million, up from $468.4 million in the year-ago third quarter.
Overseas sales in Pioneer’s Others segment dropped 12.9 percent, to $156.4 million, down from $179.5 million in the year-ago three months. This decline was attributed to falling sales in North America of speaker devices for cellular phones and digital cable TV set-top boxes, which reduced the favorable impact of both the yen’s depreciation and increased sales of DVD-R/RW drives for personal computer makers.
Total sales in Pioneer’s electronics business in the third quarter climbed 4.6 percent, reaching $1.26 billion, up from $1.21 billion in the year-ago third quarter. Electronics business operating income in the third quarter fell to $14.3 million, down from $50.2 million in the same quarter in 2000.
Increased sales of DVD software drove sales in Pioneer’s overseas A/V Software segment up 12.6 percent, to $18.5 million, compared with $16.4 million in the third quarter of 2000. Pioneer’s overall A/V software business rose 10.9 percent, reaching $76.5 million, up from $68.9 million in the year-ago three months.
For the nine months, total sales in Pioneer’s electronics business inched up 2.5 percent, reaching $3.34 billion, compared with $3.26 billion in the same period in 2000. Operating income in the electronics business for the nine months decreased to $12.9 million, down from $78.9 million the previous year.
Pioneer’s overall A/V product sales in the nine months moved up 3.8 percent, to $1.19 billion, compared with $1.05 billion in the same period in 2000.
Overall car electronics product sales for the nine months hit $1.46 billion, a 5.5 percent increase over the previous nine months, when sales were $1.38 billion.
A/V software sales soared 20.8 percent in the nine months, to $241.9 million, compared with $200.2 million in the same period the previous year.
Overall net sales at Pioneer in the third quarter climbed 4.9 percent, to $1.34 billion, up from $1.28 billion in the year-ago period. Net income was about cut in half, coming in at $24 million in the third quarter, compared with $47.9 million in the same three months in 2000.
For the nine months, overall net sales rose 3.6 percent, reaching $3.58 billion, compared with $3.46 billion in the same period the previous year. Net income dropped to $60.6 million in the nine months, down from $95.2 million the previous year.
Pioneer has revised downward its 12-month revenue projection for fiscal 2002, ending March 31. The company now expects $5.06 billion in sales for the 12 months, compared with $5.15 billion in its previous forecast. Sales in fiscal 2001 reached $4.90 million for the 12 months.
Net income for the 12 months also has been revised downward, to $72 million, from the previous $83.3 million. In fiscal 2001, net income reached $138.6 million for the 12 months.
