Sega's Q1 Sales Down 19% as The Conduit Sells Just 150,000

Japanese holding company Sega Sammy reported its first-quarter fiscal results for the period ended June 30, revealing total sales of 60.46 billion yen (down 19%) and a net loss of 10.29 billion yen. Sega is the latest game publisher to be hurt by the weak global economy. 

"During the first quarter of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2010, the Japanese economy continued to face uncertain prospects for recovery. Corporate business performance and the employment outlook in Japan worsened, and weak personal consumption persisted, due to the global economic recession that has grown more acute since last year," Sega noted. "In the home video game software industry, growth in demand for software has leveled off in Japan and North America, due to the popularization of the current generation of game platforms. Nevertheless, demand remains relatively firm in Europe."

Sega said it sold a total of 2.65 million software units during the quarter. 990,000 of those were in America, with 1.12 million copies in Europe and 530,000 copies in Japan and other regions. The Conduit (exclusive to Wii) sold just 150,000 units in the U.S. and Europe, while Virtua Tennis 2009 sold 790,000 units in the U.S. and Europe.

While the home video game business experienced a sales decline of over 40% and an operating loss of 4.5 billion yen, Sega Sammy's Pachislot and Pachinko machine business recorded sales of 19.754 billion yen (an increase of 60.8% year on year and better than the home video game business sales total). The Pachislot segment also improved its operating loss from 4.35 billion yen to 1.037 billion yen.

For the full fiscal year ending next March, Sega Sammy is anticipating total sales of 420 billion yen (down 2.1%), operating income of 27 billion yen (up a whopping 222%) and net income of 15 billion yen.