IndustryGamers - Informing the Games Industry

Sony Makes $385 Million in Profit, But the PSP Drags It Down Slightly

Posted October 29, 2010 by M.H. Williams

Today, Sony announced its second fiscal quarter earnings for the period ended September 30. The company overall posted a revenue of ¥1.733 trillion ($21.5 billion), up 4.3 percent from last year. Sony dug themselves out of a hole, with ¥31.1 billion ($384.9 million) in profit, compared to a loss of ¥26.3 billion ($326.5 million) during the same period in 2009.

The PlayStation brand falls under the Networked Products and Services group, which notes that the the brand “contributed significantly” to the group’s improved sales. Sales rose to ¥369.1 billion ($4.58 billion), a 5 percent rise for the same period last year. The VAIO PC brand saw a 50 percent increase in sales, which was a large driver for the increase revenue. Overall, operating income rose to ¥6.9 billion ($85 million).

The PlayStation section saw sales drop to ¥171 billion ($2.12 billion), a 12.9 percent decline from 2009. The PlayStation 3, buoyed by the brisk sales of the Slim unit, also saw an improvement due to the release of the PlayStation Move. 3.5 million PlayStation 3’s were sold during the quarter, up 9 percent from 2009. Software sales rose from 23.9 million units to 35.3 million units. The PlayStation 3 Slim, with a lowered production cost and high sales drove more profit for the company.

Unfortunately, the PSP had an amazing 50 percent decline in system sales year-over-year. In fact, the PSP sold only 1.5 million units, matching the 10-year-old PlayStation 2. PSP software saw a 2 million unit drop to 13 million, and PS2 software was almost halved with a drop to 5.6 million units, versus 11.4 million last year.

Sony raised its earnings forecast for the fiscal year ending on March 31, 2011 to ¥70 billion ($869 million). It lowered its sales forecast due to the continuing strength of the yen, dropping it down to ¥7.4 trillion ($91.8 billion). The PlayStation division looks to sell 15 million PlayStation 3s, 8 million PSPs, and 6 million PS2s for the year.

M.H. Williams has been writing in some form or another for ten years and has been a hardcore gamer since the NES first graced American shores.  You can catch him on Twitter as @AutomaticZen, Google+ as himself, or on his personal Facebook page.