PS3 losses may top $2 billion by March 2007
According to Vnunet, who were present at a Tokyo investor briefing on January 31, Sony are looking at a total loss by March 2007 of $1.65 billion up to $2.05 billion from the cost developing and manufacturing their PS3 hardware.
Japanese electronics giant Sony unveiled a 5.3% drop in net profits of 159.9 billion Yen ($1.3 billion in Q4 2006), blaming huge losses at its game unit. The BBC reports poor sales and high costs linked to the delayed launch of its PlayStation 3 and sluggish demand for its PlayStation Portable (PSP) weighed on profits.
Luckily Sony will have recovered by the end of Q1 2007 thanks to their electronics division driven strong sales of flat-screen TV’s. The forecasted profits for the year have been raised from 50 billion Yen ($414.1 million) to 60 billion Yen ($496.9 million).
Sony executives explained: “This deterioration was primarily the result of the loss arising from the sale of the PS3 at strategic price points, as well as other charges associated with preparation for the launch of the PS3 platform. In addition, operating income from the PS2 and PSP businesses fell due to sales declines.”
While we’re surprised to hear about the PS2 sales going down (weren’t they stronger than ever with a huge user base of 111 million?) analysts did say Sony has been shocked by the strong sales of Nintendo’s much cheaper Wii console, and has had to fight the entrenched strength of Microsoft’s Xbox 360, which was launched more than a year ago and now has a wide range of games. Same story for the PSP VS DS Lite portables battle; where Nintendo’s DS is selling about 2 to every 1 Sony PSP.
Categories: News
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BOBERRY VI
Did you know the unique PS Vita game Gravity Rush is helmed by the Siren series director? 
