Giant electronics and entertainment company Sony is expected to return into the black financially this quarter, after strong sales of games consoles and movies.

Worldwide sales of Sony's games console PlayStation 2 (PS2) have hit the 30 million mark, firmly establishing its position as the market leader.

And blockbuster movies such as Spider-Man - the most popular film of 2002 so far - have also boosted sales at Sony's entertainment business by 30% year-on-year.

"For the first quarter, we see a group operating profit from a recovery in our electronics division and a strong performance from our movies division at this time," Sony said in a statement on Monday.

Bedrock

The company has reversed an earlier financial forecast of an operating loss for the quarter ending in June.

Sales of PS2 consoles have become the bedrock of the company with 11.3 million units sold in North America, 9.9 million units in Japan and 8.8 million units in Europe.

Despite being on the market for two years the PS2 continues to sell as well as newer rivals, Nintendo's GameCube and Microsoft's Xbox.

Sony is continuing to invest in the machine, and launched an network for online gaming in Japan earlier this year and announced plans for similar systems in the US, and later in Europe.

The company has also said it will sell 500,000 limited edition consoles in two special colours. The company said it will sell the PS2 Special Ocean Blue model on 18 July and the PS2 Zen Black on 1 August.