Sony’s financials for Q3 FY12 were announced by the company today, and things were pretty decent overall, with the company posting a net loss of ‘just’ ¥10.8 billion (around $115 million US) for the third quarter ending on December 31st, 2012, much lower than the ¥159 billion seen in Q3 FY11.
Looking specifically at video games, though, things aren’t as cheery. The PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 2 combined to sell 6.8 million units during the third quarter (600,000 less than last year), with the fiscal year projected to end at 16 million (2 million less than last year). As for packaged software on those two consoles, they combined for 61.7 million copies during the quarter (7 million lower than FY11), with the fiscal year projections expected to stay in line with last year’s 164.5 million.
On the handheld side, the PlayStation Vita and PlayStation Portable sold a mere 2.7 million units during Q3 (300,000 more than last year), though it is worth noting that the PS Vita wasn’t available during this time period last year. FY12 projections place the hardware sales to end up around 7 million (200,000 above last year), meaning that they only expect to sell about 1.3 million PSP and PS Vita systems this quarter, below previous estimates. They now predict to sell 7 million PSPs and Vitas, rather than 10 million (which was a cut from estimates of 16 million).
Packaged software for the handhelds hit 8.9 million copies during Q3 (2.5 million lower than last year), with FY12 projections having them around the same as FY11’s 32.2 million.
As for hard numbers in gaming, operating income decreased 29.2 billion yen year-on-year to 4.6 billion yen, about $53 million US. Sony offered up the decrease in PS3 software and PSP hardware for the primary reasons behind this drop, as well as the “slow penetration” of the PlayStation Vita.
What do you think of the sales results during the busy holiday season? Let us know in the comments below.
