Sony Computer sees little impact from US conflict yet

Ken Kutaragi, chief executive of Sony Corp unit Sony Computer Entertainment Inc, said the company has not as yet seen any major impact from the conflict between the US and Afghanistan.

However, he added that the company would be ready to reduce production "substantially" if necessary.

"We are now producing 1.8 million games machines a month," Kutaragi said. "At this stage we haven't seen any serious impact on our business."

However, he added that if there was serious impact as a result of the attacks on Afghanistan, the company "could substantial cut production."

Kutaragi was speaking at a conference to announce the planned acquisition of an 18.60% stake in independent software developer Square Co Ltd through a private placement of new shares.

"We have no plan to increase capital investment in Square further at the moment. We expect ... the business of online game software to emerge this year and next year," he said.