Sony is hoping to expand into the battery business for electric cars. Yoshioka said the company was in talks with several automakers, although he declined to give names or details.
He said Sony's lithium-ion batteries were competitive because of breakthroughs after encountering quality problems in its batteries for laptops, which required a massive global recall in 2006. Sony is expecting its second straight annual loss for the fiscal year through March 2010 — hurt by sliding prices, the global slowdown and its failure to produce blockbusters products like Apple Inc.'s iPod or Nintendo Co.'s Wii.
The maker of the Walkman portable player expects a 95 billion yen ($1 billion) loss for the fiscal year through March 2010 — marginally better than the 98.9 billion yen loss the previous fiscal year, its first annual loss in 14 years.
