Sony PlayStation Hardware, Software Sales Slip In Q1

Tokyo-based Sony on Thursday reported an overall drop in revenues and an operating loss for the first fiscal quarter ended June 30, as sales of PlayStation 3 and PSP hardware and software declined year-on-year. Unit sales of PS3 dropped to 1.1 million during the quarter from 1.6 million sold for the same quarter a year ago. PSP sales dropped to 1.3 million from 3.7 million for the comparable quarter last year. The nine-year-old PS2 sold 1.6 million units. During the quarter, Sony's games business specifically recorded revenues of ¥110.51 billion ($1.16 billion), a 48.6 percent drop in revenues year-on-year due to lower sales of hardware and software. First-party software sales of PS3 reached 14.8 million, down year-on-year from 22.8 million units. PSP software sales declined to 8.3 million for the period from 22.8 million, while PS2 software sales dropped to 8.5 million from 19.3 million. Within Sony's Network Products and Services segment, which includes the games business, revenues dropped 37.4 percent for the quarter to ¥246.8 billion ($2.57 billion). Profits within the segment also deteriorated, as operating loss climbed to ¥38.7 billion ($414 million), compared to a profit of ¥4.6 billion a year ago. Sony attributed the lower profits to lower software sales and lower PSP hardware sales. The company also pointed to poor performance of Sony Vaio PCs, which are within the same segment as gaming. The company's B2B and Disc Manufacturing segment was also impacted by lagging sales of game discs, as revenues in that area dropped 28.4 percent to ¥99.1 billion ($1.03 billion). Across Sony's entire business, the company reported a 19.2 percent decline in revenues to ¥1.56 trillion ($16.4 billion). Net loss was ¥37.1 billion ($391 million), down from a profit of ¥35 billion ($368 million) for the same quarter a year ago. Along with lagging sales of Bravia TVs, Sony noted that the appreciation of the yen and a "continued slowdown" of the global economy also negatively impacted results. Financial reports say that Sony actually beat earnings estimates, following a series of cost-cutting measures by Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer.