Sony Needs PS4 as Games Income Nose Dives

Wow, bad news for Sony's games division - only mildly offset by.... the Vita. Yes indeed. Read the horror below:

In terms of forthcoming PS4s and the like, it's not going to happen pre-March 31st that's for sure. Sony says this in its 'Outlook for the Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 2013':

"Primarily due to the lowering of the annual unit sales forecast for portable hardware, sales and operating income are expected to be lower than the November forecast. Sales and operating income are expected to decrease significantly year-on-year."

So, what happened last year? The dirty details are:

Sales and operating revenue for the three months to December 31st 2012 were (in billions) ¥268.5 compared with ¥316.1 in the same period in 2011. Yup, bad but not as bad as this: In 2011 Operating Income was (again in billions) was ¥33.8 compared with ¥4.6 this time. Yes, a 86.4% drop in revenue.

Ouch. Here's what Sony says:

"Overall segment sales decreased significantly due to lower sales of hardware and software of the PlayStation®3 (“PS3”) and PSP® (PlayStation Portable) (“PSP”), partially offset by the sales of the PlayStation®Vita introduced in December 2011."

The Vita made "off-set" the losses? Yes, you read that right.

Source: Sony