Sony games segment weak

[MikeHaggar]

Sony's chief financial officer, Nobuyuki Oneda, has warned that the games sector "is weak" and presents "a major challenge" after the company posted a drop in profit of more than 90 per cent.

The games division made a YEN 43.5 billion (EUR 289 million) loss, attributed to the investment required for manufacturing, marketing and research costs for the PS3. Sales and operating revenues also fell by more than 20 per cent to hit YEN 170 billion (EUR 1.13 billion).

"But the game segment is weak and is the major challenge for us now," he added.

PS2 software shipments during the quarter were down by 3 million units to 47 million, but the figure for PSP software rose from 9.9 million to 12.9 million units. PS2 and PSP hardware shipments rose to 5.02 million and 3.89 million respectively. However, both hardware and software sales were down overall, with sales and operating revenue standing at YEN 170.3 billion (EUR ).

[SlackMaster]

Also mentioned in 'ITWord.com' news coverage was;

The games business dropped into the red as a result of start-up costs for the PlayStation 3. Sales also fell due to lackluster demand for the PlayStation Portable (PSP). For the full year Sony cut its shipment estimate for the PSP from 12 million units to 9 million units.

[Magius]

Every division of Sony is struggling at the moment and as a whole company their profits are the worst they've been in 10 years. PS3/Blu-Ray is going to make or break Sony.

[Andy Kurosaki]

Hopefully it'll break em because something needs to hit them off the high horse they've been on lately.They've got it coming to them.