PlayStation 3 Sales Follow Sony Plummet

Sony heading downhill

Posted 29 Jan 2009 by Staff
From a happier, happier time.
From a happier, happier time.
Sony has announced its third-quarter (October to December 2008) financials, part of which included news of PlayStation sales. None of it makes for uplifting reading.

Let's deal with the worldwide gaming division numbers first:

Hardware
PS3: 4.46 million unit sales. This is 440,000 units down on the same period last year.
PS2: 2.52 million - down 2.88 million units year-on-year.
PSP: 5.8 million - down 680,000 units year-on-year.

Software
PS3 software sales up 14.8 million units year-on-year to 40.8 million units shipped.
PS2 software sales down 31.2 million to 29.7 million.
PSP software sales down 2.8 million to 15.5 million.

Operating income for the division was down a staggering 97% compared to the same period in 2007 - and this was despite reduced costs of manufacturing for the PS3. According to Sony, "Overall hardware sales decreased as a result of the impact of the appreciation of the yen against the US dollar and the euro, in addition to a decrease in unit sales of PS2, PSP and PS3.

"(Software) Despite an increase in PS3 software sales, overall software sales decreased as a result of the appreciation of the yen against the US dollar and the euro, in addition to a decrease PS2 and PSP software sales."

All this contributed to the parent company's quarterly net profit of ¥10.4 billion (£81.3 million). That's down from ¥200.2 billion (£1.5 billion) - that's a 94.8% downturn year-on-year. All up, the company is expecting an operating loss of ¥18 billion (£140.6 million) compared to a profit of ¥236.2 billion (£1.8bn) in the same period in 2007.

Looks as if Sir Howard Stringer and his management wouldn't have had much cash to pay their bonuses with in the first place. Let's hope the restructuring works out.

Sources:
Sony
Economic Times
Forbes
Reuters
Companies:

Comments

SuperSaiyan4 29 Jan 2009 12:06
1/8
Its a shame Sony cut down the features of the 60gb PS3 along with the look of the console with the horrible painted on silver look which makes it look tacky.

I am looking to get a PS3 again but I will have to get a pre-owned 60gb model as I want ALL the features and the look of the chrome finish along with PS2 playback.
Cynic22441 29 Jan 2009 12:13
2/8
I would have got a PS3 if they hadn't cut backwards compatibility. Simple, really. But they had to argue amongst themselves about licensing between divisions. Great example of how to screw things up.
James 29 Jan 2009 15:42
3/8
Drop the price there's a recession on. Ohh wait they can't as they will go bankrupt. I'll be picking up a PS3 but on two conditions, the price is under £120 and the ICO(or SOTC) sequel is released. Other than that the PS3 has no justification for being more expensive than the Xbox or Wii,

Fact it should be cheaper due to lack of exclusives and it's lousy record of running multiformat games.
SuperSaiyan4 29 Jan 2009 16:36
4/8
James you forget what the PS3 has in terms of hardware, blu-ray player, built in wi-fi i think these add to the costs hence the price.

Also £120 for a PS3??? Thats not gonna happen anytime soon so keep waiting.
Was p 29 Jan 2009 22:59
5/8
SuperSaiyan4 wrote:
James you forget what the PS3 has in terms of hardware, blu-ray player, built in wi-fi i think these add to the costs hence the price.

Also £120 for a PS3??? Thats not gonna happen anytime soon so keep waiting.


I got mine for about £110 as part of a Blu-ray promotion when I bought a Sony TV. Still kick myself that I didn't ask if they had any of the launch model left.
SuperSaiyan4 30 Jan 2009 08:59
6/8
Was p wrote:
SuperSaiyan4 wrote:
James you forget what the PS3 has in terms of hardware, blu-ray player, built in wi-fi i think these add to the costs hence the price.

Also £120 for a PS3??? Thats not gonna happen anytime soon so keep waiting.


I got mine for about £110 as part of a Blu-ray promotion when I bought a Sony TV. Still kick myself that I didn't ask if they had any of the launch model left.


But you had to buy the HDTV first right? But I thought some places were giving away a PS3 when bought with a Sony HDTV?
Was p 2 Feb 2009 01:16
7/8
SuperSaiyan4 wrote:
Was p wrote:
SuperSaiyan4 wrote:
James you forget what the PS3 has in terms of hardware, blu-ray player, built in wi-fi i think these add to the costs hence the price.

Also £120 for a PS3??? Thats not gonna happen anytime soon so keep waiting.


I got mine for about £110 as part of a Blu-ray promotion when I bought a Sony TV. Still kick myself that I didn't ask if they had any of the launch model left.


But you had to buy the HDTV first right? But I thought some places were giving away a PS3 when bought with a Sony HDTV?


I was buying the TV anyway, and as the discounted price of the TV and the PS3 together was still a few hundred quid less than the full RRP of the TV, I was happy enough... until six months later, Richer Sounds knocked another few hundred quid off that discounted price, but such is life.

What I was trying to illustrate, is that it had been possible to get a PS3 for a lot less, if it was bundled with something else, and from what you’re saying, it sounds like it still is.
lakshan 22 Mar 2009 19:51
8/8
i bought a ps3 from amazon for £157 and it works perfectly i have now had it for a week and it doesnt crash or get slow during the game (it came with four games gta iv, gta vcs , call of duty 4, call of duty 5 and little big planet.

Humans Rule OK