Sony Corp. plans to make its mobile-device business profitable next year as it boosts shipments of smartphones, the head of the unit said Monday.

The maker of Xperia handsets and tablets plans to sell more than 34 million smartphones in the year beginning April 1, Kunimasa Suzuki, chief executive officer of the unit, told reporters in Tokyo, without giving a more specific figure. Sony said last month it's targeting 34 million shipments for the current fiscal year.

Sony President Kazuo Hirai is focusing on mobile devices as a key product to help revive the Tokyo-based electronics maker, which is reeling from four straight annual losses amid slumping demand for televisions. Sony bought out its mobile-phone venture with Ericsson AB last year for ?1.05 billion ($1.4 billion) and is eliminating about 15 percent of the unit's workforce to make it profitable.