Since the PS3’s launch in late 2006 and Sony’s revelation that they actually lost quite a bit of money on each console sold, many have wondered if company would every be able to turn a profit in this current gaming generation, and while that may have been true up until now, it seems as though the tide is turning, with the PS3 leading the way.
According to a Reuters JP report, Sony is now, finally, making a profit on each PS3 sold, although the amount of profit has yet to be determined. The PS3 was also Sony’s only gaming console to see year-over-year growth, with the console selling 13 million units as opposed to 10.1 million a year ago. This boost in consoles sales also added to overall software sales for the system, shooting the amount of software units sold from 103.7 million to a whopping 115.6 million.
The real downside comes when take a look at the PSP and PS2 sales numbers. PSP hardware numbers dropped by almost 5 million units, with sales plunging from 14.4 million to 9.9 million, more than likely due to slumping PSPGo sales and overall confusion at the marketplace as a result. This drop in unit sales also lead to a dramatic decrease in PSP software sales, pulling them down from 50.3 million to 44.4 million.
The PS2, as expected, saw a drop in console sales as well, but contrary to what many may think, this drop wasn’t half as bad as that experienced by the PSP, with sales dropping from 7.9 million to 7.3 million, however software sales plummeted from 83.5 million units to 35.7 million units, probably as a result of most hardcore gamers making the jump to the PS3.
Regarding overall profit numbers, Sony saw a loss of 83,100 million yen, compared to last year’s loss of ¥87,400 million, which shows slight improvement, possibly due to some of the management restructuring over the past year, with Sir Howard Stringer taking the role of company president causing sweeping changes from top to bottom, most notable is Sony’s renewed advertising campaign.
With the PS3’s new-found profitability and a renewed sense of spirit from management on-down, it looks like there’s nowhere to go but up for Sony and the PlayStation brand as a whole, and PlayStationLifeStyle will be there for every second of it, so stay tuned!
[Via]
