PlayStation losses double

Oct 25, 2007

Sony said Thursday that quarterly operating losses for its games unit had more than doubled, but that it hoped the division would break even or better in the second half of the financial year.

The Japanese electronics giant posted a gaming unit operating loss of 96.7 billion yen ($847.6 million) for the quarter ended in September, down 53.2 billion yen year-on-year, which it attributed largely to the price point of its PlayStation 3 console.

"In the game segment, operating loss increased primarily due to the loss arising from strategic pricing of PS3 at points lower than its production cost and the increase in PS3-related inventory write-downs recorded during the current quarter compared to the same quarter of the previous year," the company said in a statement.

During the quarter Sony sold 1.31 million PlayStation 3s and 10.3 million PS3 software units globally. The aging PS2 notched up 3.28 million sales and 38 million game sales, while the company also shifted 2.58 million units of its handheld PSP console and 12.6 million games for the system.

Sony said it would aim to break even or better in its game business in the second half of the business year to March, reports Reuters.

The company lifted its PSP sales target for the full financial year by 1 million units to 10 million. It also said it expects to sell 12 million PlayStation 2 consoles during the same period, 2 million more than previously estimated. The company feels it is still on track to sell 11 million PlayStation 3s during the current financial year.

The games division losses weren't enough to stop Sony posting a quarterly operating profit across its full business, however. Overall Sony's quarterly operating profit reached 90.5 billion yen, compared to a loss of 20.83 billion during the same period last year. Growth was largely driven by strong LCD TV, camera and camcorder sales.

Article supplied byNext Generation