Sony game division posts hardware losses, game sales decline
The third quarter was not kind to Sony as the company's video game footprint posted sales and operating revenue of just ¥393.8 billion, or $4.3 billion for the period ended December 31, 2008. That may sound like a lot, but it represents a substantial 32.2 percent decline in revenue compared to the same three month stretch in 2007.
Likely a result of the economy's ongoing downward powerslide, Sony revealed declining sales across each of its hardware platforms, even the seemingly bulletproof PS2, which sold through 2.52 million units compared to 2.88 million the previous year. PS3 sales dropped 44,000 units to 4.46 million for the quarter, while 5.08 million, or 68,000 fewer PSP units went out the door as well. If there is a silver lining to be seen -- and you really have to squint to see it -- it's that PS3 game sales were up 14.8 million units over last year, though with shrinking PSP software sales and a staggering 31.2 million unit drop off in PS2 games sold, we doubt anyone at Sony's game division is throwing a party.
