• by Wayne Friedman , January 30, 2017

Sony is taking a $1 billion write-down in its movie business concerning the future profitability and expectations of its home-entertainment operations.

The company said that much of this comes from a dramatically shrinking home-entertainment market -- renting and selling DVDs.

This comes as Michael Lynton, CEO of Sony Entertainment and Sony Pictures, recently announced his decision to resign to devote himself to the chairman post of Snap Inc. The move fostered speculation Sony would be selling its U.S. television business.

However, Kazuo Hirai, CEO of Sony Corp and Lynton reiterated Sony Corp.'s commitment to Sony Pictures Entertainment in an recent email to employees:

"Sony Corp’s commitment to SPE [Sony Pictures Entertainment] remains unchanged. The value of high-quality content continues to rise... Sony Corp. sees SPE as a very important part of Sony group and will continue to invest to achieve long-term growth and increased profits in this space."

Sony also revised its cell phone sales forecast recently for fiscal 2016 due -- a 2 million units reduction in annual smartphone sales to 17 million.

Sony Corp. stock dropped 4% to $29.29 in mid-day Monday morning trading.