A new financial report released by Sony for the second quarter of Fiscal Year 2009 includes some pretty damning figures. Although, after all is said and done, there IS a light at the end of the tunnel.
The key points of the report include the fact that Sony has lost $654 million (¥58.8 billion) for its “Networked Products and Services” division, which includes video game hardware and software sales. The reason for the high loss is mostly due to “a decrease in PS2 hardware and software unit sales, and the impact of the appreciation of the yen.” The PS2 has indeed slowed way down in terms of sales, with the system selling 600,000 less units over last year.
But the numbers get even worse when you do some math, and come to the conclusion that the PlayStation 3 system has cost Sony $4.695 BILLION dollars. That’s losses folks. And while the number may seem insane, it actually is very close to Microsoft’s own loss of $4.202 billion for producing the original Xbox.
However the light at the end of the tunnel comes from this statement by Sony CFO Nobuyuki Oneda who claimed the PS3 was getting cheaper to produce, stating, “the difference between sales and materials cost has been reduced to between 10 and 20%. Within the year, it could be in the single digits.” He later added, “we’ll be able to reach profitability at some point in the next term.” Which means by next year.
Via Joystiq