The coming of Q1 reports from both Sony and Nintendo were going to be interesting, thanks in part to the national tragedy that befell the country of Japan back in March. Today’s news shows that Japan’s recent tragedies have indeed affected business around the country, as Sony has posted a ¥15.45 billion ($198.2 million) loss for Q1 2011, which comes off a ¥25.6 billion ($328.4 million) profit from the same period last year.
Sony’s Consumer Products and Services division, which houses PlayStation, saw a major decline in sales, falling close to 18 percent at ¥732.3 billion ($9.3 billion). Operating income took a major hit, freefalling 94.1 percent overall to ¥1.7 billion ($21.8million).
There is a glimmer of good news for the PlayStation business though, as the section did post a slight profit thanks to PS3 software sales, ringing to the tune of 26.1 million games sold. This represents a rise of 5.2 percent.
Unfortunately, the rest of the news remains bleak as Sony saw PS3 sales decline by a staggering 25 percent overall. The line of consoles saw PS3 drop down to 1.8 million units sold, with PS2 also seeing a drop to 1.4 million. The PSP actually saw a 50 percent rise in sales to 1.8 million units.
Sony has confirmed that sales were impacted by the Tohoku Earthquake and subsequent Tsunami that ravaged the country in March of this year. They responded that while sales took a major hit, the company is seeing recovery at an accelerated pace past predicted forecasts.
While Sony took a hit overall, the company has indicated that they expect several new products to produce favorable results in the coming fiscal year, with PS Vita being noted as a major factor in Sony’s overall plan.
