[UPDATE] PS3 sells 13M consoles during fiscal year, LTD PS3 game sales hit 290.5M; PSP sales fall to 9.9M; PS2 drops to 7.3M; overall losses hit $435.6M; $536.4M profit forecast for current fiscal year.
On Monday, Sony credited "improved performance" in its games business as having helped reduce its annual red ink. Today, the electronics giant reported that the division encompassing Sony Computer Entertainment still posted a massive loss during its last fiscal year.
Early this morning, Sony issued its final results for the 12 months ending March 31, 2010. Its overall shortfall was slightly less than indicated in Monday's guidance revision, with the electronics giant posting an annual loss of ¥40.66 billion ($435.6 million) on revenues of ¥7.214 trillion ($77.28 billion). That was an improvement on the ¥98.59 billion ($1.05 billion) loss it posted a year prior, although revenues fell from ¥7.730 trillion ($82.84 billion). The loss was also $316.4 million less than the ¥70 billion ($752 million) deficit it had predicted in February.
Sony had partially staunched the financial hemorrhaging in its Networked Products & Services division, into which Sony Computer Entertainment was folded last year. The sector saw revenues drop 10.2 percent from ¥1.76 trillion ($188.6 billion) the year prior to ¥1.58 trillion ($169.4 billion), but also saw operating losses trimmed from ¥87.4 billion ($938.6 million) to ¥83.1 billion ($890 million).
"Game sales decreased due to unfavorable foreign currency exchange rates and decreases in unit sales of PSP hardware and of PS2 software, although unit sales of PS3 software increased," the company said. It added, "Despite PS3 hardware cost reductions and increased unit sales of PS3 software, profitability deteriorated primarily due to lower unit sales of PS2 software and of PSP hardware."
Sony did achieve its long-standing annual sales goal of 13 million PS3s sold--half of which were sold in the fourth quarter--up from 10.1 million the year prior. PSP sales were sharply down, however, falling from 14.1 million to 9.9 million year-on-year despite last October's introduction of the streamlined PSP Go. Sales of the nearly 10-year-old PS2 slipped from 7.9 million to 7.3 million.
[UPDATE] Sony has since published figures that revealed the PlayStation 3 has sold 35.7 million hardware units worldwide to date. That's 4.3 million less than the 40 million Xbox 360s sold as of March 31 and 35.3 million less than the 71 million Wiis sold as of that date. Some 290.5 million PS3 games were sold worldwide through March 31, including last fiscal year's first-party titles MAG, God of War III, and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.
Sony said that lifetime sales of the PSP--including the PSP Go--now total 61.5 million units, with 144.5 million PS2s having been bought worldwide since it went on sale in 2000. Sony did not offer lifetime software sales figures for the platforms, but during the past fiscal year, 35.7 million PS2 games and 44.4 million PSP games were sold globally.
The Networked Products & Services division also includes Sony's VAIO computer business. Sales of the Sony-branded, Microsoft Windows-running PCs increased in the fourth quarter--as did PS3 sales--but were down overall for the year as well.
For the current fiscal year, Sony expects to post an overall ¥50 billion ($536.4 million) profit on ¥7.6 trillion ($81.5 billion) in revenue. The company said it expects an increase in VAIO computer sales and an "improvement in the results of the game business" to cut--but not eliminate--the Networked Products & Services division's annual operating loss.
Man people working at sony are so idiotic. Who the hell came up with the psp go idea? I have a psp already, but just leave the psp platform alone. Next time instead of making the psp a multifuctional system make is for music and games only. Something that is useful outside of your house.
You sony girls just dont get it do you... if it wasnt for Nintendo there would be no PS1-2 or frickin 3 read your history as for the move Trevox you either live in a closet because Nintie was developing this concept at N64 as well as camera LOOOOOOONG before the copycat Sony got in on the act check your facts and as I said.. stop annoying animals its just wrong......
i think people are forgetting how much money sony does get from blu-ray no matter how lackluster the sales are compared to the standard DVDs.
well pl3md_basic even the porn industry isnt doing so good these days so that wouldnt help i think last year some porn companies wanted a bailout from the US government lol
Well I read on Wikipedia that 1 million 360s have been banned from Xbox Live, so assuming (ASSUMING okay? This for the butthurt faboys) that most of them bought another 360 to get back online, then the gap is more like 3.3 million. But at the end of the day, the PS3 is still last. That one year head start on the 360 was the nail in the PS3's coffin. At least that is how it looks. Bring on the fanboys.
PSP Go.... whats that, what is it....? it is always at the bottom of some monthly chart....
@analgrin dude, its clearly that sony's console are inferior when it come to multi plat games. if you were a developer, why waste that extra miles on learning something as next to useless? time is money pal. 360 just done it better and on time.
@ last couple of comments, or at least on the same theme. It usually takes developers a couple of years or more to fully get to grips with the new technology on offer (as seen with ps1 and 2), Its just a shame that just at a time when developers would be heavily investing in learning the capabilities of the new system the bloody recession hit at ruined everything. Developers stuck to what they knew. . PC games. . . or Xbox (same thing). And the consumer changed their purchasing trends and went from from designer labels to shops own brand. Or put it simply Ps3 to Xbox. And luckily microsofts gamble on using cheap pc parts in their machine seems to have come at the right time. Now the financial situation seems to be settling (not recovering as such but settling, we all no how much or little spending money we got lol) so i think ps3 gonna start doing well now. Its a luxury item. Although I have a nasty feeling its not going to be too long before Xbox 1080 or whatever they're gonna call it will make an appearance
@Lionheart8472 BluRay is superior compared to HD DVD no doubt about it. However, it seems that major producers and distributors are not willing to fully convert their systems completely to that yet because every few years, they always come out with a new format. I mean just think about how long it took them to convert from VHS to DVDs. I don't think its fair to say that the PS3 does so much more anymore. It used to but now Sony is turning paranoid about having its PS3 do other stuff so they're starting to remove quite a few interesting features from it. MS is not paying to steal Sony's exclusives. The developers themselves are jumping ships here because their product sells more on the Xbox 360 than it does on the PS3 which translates to more money. Its as simple as that. Sony basically just killed their brand by trying to do a little too much with a video game console while MS did what Sony did with the PS2 making the 360 primarily a gaming console. In addition, MS also made it very easy for game developers to program for the 360 which is in sharp contrast to what Sony did for them. Since developers are in a constant time constrain, they opt for the platform that is easier to develop for and then port their product to the secondary platforms. I mean time is money in the real world and Sony should have just let the PS3 be a gaming console.
@RoxyRush Microsoft makes zero dollars straight from a game that's on the PC. Unlike Console games where you have to pay so sort of licensing fee, you pay ziltch to the PC. That being said I understand what you're saying about how they make money in some way or another. I mean they are making money off every Windows System sold. However you can play a lot of games on Mac these days either native or Boot Camp so it's possible. Also if you want to say things like that, where Microsoft pays so much money to steal exclusives from the PS3, Sony doesn't really do that at all. And let's not forget how the PS3 won them the next gen format War over HD-DVD. Not only that but now they are going to be making a ton of money off of Blu Ray sales for the next few years. Remember PS3 was never branded to be just a Gaming System so we gotta stop treating it as such. PS3 has amazing games but it does so much more.
If Sony charged a one time $30 start-up fee for PSN, they would had been able to cover most of that red ink. But what do I know, I'm just crazy.
sony should really push out a PSP2 with 20GB optical storage. there is no future for high-profit downloadable games, optical storage is still key for high-quality content portable and non-portable. people who think all online content is the future are actually wrong, as there isn't enough bandwidth to go around for 8 to 20GB games worldwide (and normal people aren't going to wait for a game they could just buy cheaper in a store, or if they live in a place with sucky internet) so the future of high-profit portable gaming is really still in the optical/holographic media game... downloadable games are only an option for mini games like on the iphone (topping 250MB)...
yea go ahead sony keep messing with the ps2 and that dam psp... the ps2 development should of been done with as soon as the ps3 launched and the psp should of gone with a touch screen along time ago with better upgrades in stead of the psp go wtf :-( it sucks to see this happen they should change their strategy and concentrate on the ps3s success and make it more that wut it is and should be
@redskin While they did definitely show a bias in the early stages of the console war they have ditched the practice for the most part. As for them bringing it up in the article this actually makes Microsoft look bad as it was out for a year before the PS3. It also shows that things are not going well for the Wii which at one point was more than double that number over it. all those numbers show is that the PS3 has hit it's stride and is continuing to close it's sales gap. Considering all three Consoles have said they won't be doing a new system for at least three years this could very well end up being a near stalemate on all sides market saturation wise.
The PSP go is a dead issue. Just another pirate box . PS2 ? are you kidding ? That's over too. And Sony made sure that all the games wouldn't work on the PS3 and killed off PS2 games sales. Brilliant. I love the PS3 it's a great machine. Too bad it's twice as expensive as a Wii. The PS3 is also not seemingly being marketed to younger kids who are a massive part of the marketplace. These kids become adults and then they are used to playing on the Wii or DS. I don't know the situation with developers but I'm guessing the costs of producing PS3 games must be very high because there are so many Wii and DS games being made (mostly crap). The ratio must be 10-1 Nintendo VS Sony. I'm not saying much about the 360 because I'm disgusted with it. Poor quality machine that damages games at a middle of the road price. I own one but prefer every other machine. Sony seems to be more interested in technology than their customers needs. Affordable price+fun games+availability+ reliability = happy customer and more $. Is that so hard to comprehend ? It's hard to believe these are the same people who made the PS2 I love.
@redskinStu: if gamespot was so pro microsoft they wouldn't have given Demon Souls (ps3 exclusive) their game of the year award.
The problem with the ps3 has been just timing. But overall is a great console and I'm proud of my sexy ps3. The psp on the other hand........I don't know what sony wants to do with it...the pspGO was a bad idea imo.
"That's 4.3 million less than the 40 million Xbox 360s sold as of March 31 and 35.3 million less than the 71 million Wiis sold as of that date. " I like how the ole pro-Microsoft Gamespot reporters always point things like that out. I always wonder how they're going to fit it in.
Maybe Sony losses by every PS3 sold, but it is gaining by obtaining everyone a blu ray player...
@Lionheart8472 First of all, MS does make money in one form or another from the games that come out on Windows. After all, they're a corporation and it's in their best interest to make money. You cannot play those games on Linux let alone a Mac. If you could, then you'd see a significant drop in Windows market share from the gaming perspective. Being on PC is still being exclusive as long as its on a MS based platform. Splinter Cell Conviction just came out, Crackdown will follow along with Halo Reach followed by Gears of War 3. There's no point on arguing for exclusives anymore since its only a matter of time that Sony will lose their rights to those exclusives. Even if those exclusives came out within two months, Sony is still not making enough money from them because in the larger picture, more and more game developers are starting to consider skipping the PS3 altogether since its harder to program for which leads to the question "whats the point of making a powerful gaming console if all that power isn't being used by the mainstream developers excluding the exclusives?" In addition, MS isn't stupid enough to give up any sort of a lead to Sony. You have to understand that MS is aiming to take as much of the market share from Sony as they can and so far sadly but truly, they have succeeded to an extent.
Is it a loss of moneys, or is it actually more like a "non gain" of moneys? I'm at a loss - lol..
@ skyman_1981 lolz how do you expect people to believe you when you dont even source your quotes, i mean you were obviously born in 1981 you should have learned how to write a persuasive essay, and to write one you have to cite your quotes. as all the gamers would say, pwned!
@boxworthy: Your comment makes no sense. The PS3's hardware is more powerful then the 360s yet it's the same price as an elite.
@davejudge Fanboy much? How did Sony steal anything from Nintendo? If you're talking about PlayStation Move you'd better know that it was in works when the PlayStation 2 EyeToy was released. Know before you comment. @swampstick You suck. @monson21502 Yeah right. Keep making stuff up. @glaceya Sales difference between PS3 and Xbox 360 was 9 million at one point last year, 6 million at January 2010 and now it's 4.5 mil or so. The PS3 will catch up on the sales before this year ends - or during next year's spring if the current speed in sales remain the same. @skyman1981 1. Click here 33.4GB per layer on PS3 BluRay Discs since January 2010. 2. If they made that, they should make USB 1.0 supported too. 3. PS3 isn't 6 millions far away from Xbox 360, it's 4.5millions. The 6 million gap was in January. @Tarig184 I guess you haven't been to game shops and seen Game of the Year award winners in awhile. Metal Gear Solid 4 won the GOTY 2008 from here GameSpot. GOTY 2009 from GameSpot was taken by Demon's Souls While Uncharted 2 won over 40 GOTY awards in total.
Xbox 360 sucks anyway, I got 3 RROD'S in the first week. I haven't had one problem with the PS3 for over 3 years now.
Another story, another example of how Sony just isn't getting things right. Oh well, I guess I will stick to other, better game platforms.
Sony sucks specially with the gold FPS like MW2 haha I hope they continue to lose they stole their game ability of Nintendo anyway
@SuperYeti22, Well I agree with your statement, partly, except for the that really the Sony has cover ground in the past couple of years--technically the 'sales numbers' for the PS3 aren't really as 'far behind' (w/ 360) as you mentioned. But I do wonder if some of those sale numbers that MS posted accurately reflect if some of those sales are for repeat buys from people that had system issues from previous ones they owned.
glaceya...If you are so right, then explain to me why I as a hardcore FORMER Xbox supporter have returned to Sony as many of my friends have. Many of us are sick of being screwed by Microsoft and being nickle and dimed for everything we want to do. Microjunk is a joke. For the same value that I get with my PS3, Microsoft would be charging double what it costs with Sony. Wireless internet, Sony-Free Microjunk, $60. Blue Ray player, comes with Sony. Woops, not with Microjunk, I have to go buy a separate player to take up room that I don't have. Multiplayer online gaming and media. $50 a year with Microjunk, Sony is free. You can argue till your blue that Xbox Live is better. Tell me how its worth $50 more a year better. Nope. I have had it for 5 years, since pretty much the early Halo 2 days. Not worth $50 a year. Bottom line is Microsoft is garbage and they are just interested in people like you glaceya that they can bleed dry. I am sick and tired of hardware failures with Microjunk which is what sent me to Sony. Also, if Microsoft is so much better, then why are the stores out of PS3's all the time near me, but Microjunks are always available?? Must be the killing Sony theory...right
MS is only outselling sony for (possibly)2 reasons: 1) 360 was released back in '05, and the PS3 was released in late '06, the 360 came out OVER A YEAR before the PS3! If they were released on the same day, I don't think 360 sales would be so far ahead of the PS3 sales as much as they are now... 2)(Possibly)MS might be counting the replacement 360's (the raplacement, repaired 360's that you get when RROD ges u) as sales. So 360's might not be selling as much as u 360 fanboys like to think...
@glaceya "the ps3 will NEVER catch the 360 in over all sales. and this generation of gaming belongs to Microsoft. maybe Sony will get it right with the PS4." Haha, yeah you're not a fanboy at all are you? You clearly forget that the 360 came out a year before the PS3 in america and Japan and the gap was even longer for the EU. And yet even considering that - and the PS3's original ridiculous price - the gap has reduced to only 4.3 million. What does that tell you if not "Sony are catching up."? Also dude, just swallow your fanboy pride and play Uncharted 2 and you'll quickly see that Sony have already got it right. ;]
@tarig134 Wow, the irony, you realise your avatar is from a PS3 exclusive game, right? And as to your post, what do you even mean? If the PS3 had exclusives then the PS3 wouldn't sell well? 'cuz that's what this article is saying. It isn't saying that the PS3 didn't sell, it's saying that it sold like hot cakes. Did you even read the article at all?
@skyman_1981 how much does the 64 GB drive cost? a new dual layer blu-ray disc costs around 20$ an eight gb thumb drive cost 20$ to 30$ what about 64gb? think before posting something dumb.
good to see theyre getting better each year, way to go sony! @tarig134 im dont even know where start on how ridiculous and stupid that fanboy-like statement is. they have like 10 more than xbox AND you even have a God Of war avatar.. i hope what you are saying is sarcasm, because if it wasnt, you really are stupid
its all prolly due to the psp go.see sony. you can get away with removing your features via system updates. but you cant get away taking away our disc based games :wink:
Way to go Sony! I, for one, am a happy customer. Microsoft can't complain either, selling 40 million units is pretty damn impressive. And then there's nintendo...lol. Anyways, I'm just glad that we've got a healthy competition between the consoles, which all have their respective strengths and weaknesses. Remember this fellow gamers: at the end of the day, no matter what console we stand behind, we all have one thing in common- a love for video games. :-)
sony should have played it safe and released a cheaper system. Forcing bluray and then paying WB and Fox BILLIONS of dollars to adopt the format just wan't a practical thing. They thought they could recoup sales on ps3 since they were coming off the mighty ps2 era and people would buy a sony NO MATTER WHAT. Well people had great alternatives and the rest is history. If they were smart, they would be crushing this gen even over the Wii. Now they are about 6 mil behind (41+ mil X360) and a buttload behind the Wii. Example Microsoft We are very happy to have Mr Sakaguchi, Mr Itigaki etc to develop for our system sony We are sony and people will like and buy whatever we offer because we are the big mighty sony and our word is law! Even the Windows 7 commercials "Windows 7 was my idea" It is all about listening to your client and fanbase. Funny thing is that bluray won't be the next medium, it is just the temporary medium til the next one takes off and that is real soon. USB 3.0 Fully Backwards Compat down to USB 1.1 Higher Voltage Faster transfer and read rate, 3 gbs Mass storage up to 128 GB and above even a 32 gb is common for mass market and that is bigger than a single layer bluray and a 64 gb thumb drive is BIGGER than a dual layer bluray. Imagine no more skip, smaller system, etc. Why do you think that MS rolled out the support for thumb drives in their latest system update and released a higher capacity support for sd cards in Windows?
Well even though Sony (as whole) may have had some downer moments, not too shabby to see them pull in 35.7mil in sales for the PS3. That should certainly show the many that like to fluff the fanboyism train of thought that Sony and the PS3 ain't doing as bad, as it's so often claimed. Only 4.3mil behind MS, I say kudos for mad ground coverage, Sony. Not bad at all. ;) And hell, the Wii numbers are the Wii numbers--not just much Sony or MS can do about that, so I ain't mad, lol.
I agree with what others have said. PS2 support at least at some level would encourage me to be more likely to go with a PS3. I will have a PS3 but ironically I planned to get one at launch and yet here we are years later and I end up spending more money on 360 games and just can't justify going for the PS3 yet. And of course nearly every multiplatform game just seems to do better on 360 with more online players and typically better DLC. My real motivation lately for PS3 is Heavy Rain... but with so many awesome games coming out for 360 I just don't even have time to play all of them. Soon I will get PS3 most likely becuase of Blue ray and finally enough exclusives that it will be worth having.
Electronics giant takes in $87.78 billion in annual revenue; 14.3 million PlayStation 3s, 8 million PSPs, 6.4 million PS2s sold during the year.
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