Sony plans on $2.9 billion loss for the year
When Kaz Hirai takes over as CEO of Sony on April 1st, he's going to have to roll up the sleeves of his $10,000 suit and get in a good cry before figuring out the future of the struggling giant. The company announced a loss of ¥159 billion ($2.1B) for the third quarter ending December 31, 2011, with an expected loss of ¥220 billion ($2.9B) for the year. We imagine every meeting between Hirai and outgoing CEO Howard Stringer begins with a sarcastic "Thanks, buddy!"
The consumer products and services division, which includes TVs and PlayStation, had an operating loss of over a billion dollars with sales down 24 percent from the same period.
This is likely due more to the declining sales of Sony's TVs, video cameras and PCs, than it is of the PlayStation brand. PS3 sales are staying level with last year, with the company expecting to sell 14 million units or hardware and 148 million units of software. Vita sales were not specified at all, though PSP and PS2 sales were -- and the PSP data is declining, which means the Vita debut wasn't hidden in there.
