Sales for the quarter were down to $10.1 billion, with the PlayStation 3 price snip and software sales largely responsible. It was LCD manufacturing costs that really hurt Sony.
The electronics giant has of course been pushing 3D TVs out the door fast, but it’s a costly pursuit. Sony Corp posted a loss of ¥1.6 billion ($21m) for the fiscal quarter period.
That’s down from last year’s ¥68.7 billion profit of the same period. Sales of the overall business were also down 9 percent from ¥1.7 trillion to ¥1.5 trillion with Sony blaming the underperforming sales of TV and their manufacture. Sony expects their full fiscal 2011 to hold a profit of ¥25.9 billion, an 80 percent step down from last year’s ¥135.7 billion.
Sales are forecast at ¥3 trillion, slipping from ¥3.3 trillion.
During the three months bringing us to September 30th; Sony sold 3.7 million PS3 units, besting the 3.5 million in 2010’s same period. 1.7 million PSPs, up from 1.5 million, and PS2 managed 1.2 million, down from 1.5 million.
Software sales for PlayStation 3 hit 37.4 million, up from 35.3 million. PSP sold 8.1 million, down from 2010’s 11 million. PlayStation 2 scored 2.8 million, falling from 5.6 million. Not bad for an old dog of a platform. Right now Sony’s gamble on 3D TVs isn’t looking so hot but hopefully 2012 will see a greater uptake to make these losses worthwhile.
