Games business a money-maker again for electronics giant, thanks to increased console sales, lower manufacturing costs.
Last year, the July-September quarter was a dire one for Sony, with the company losing ¥26.3 billion ($326 million) on ¥1.66 trillion ($20.6 billion) of revenues. Today, the company reported earnings for the same period in 2010, and the result was decidedly different–¥31.1 billion yen ($385.4 million) of profit on ¥1.73 trillion ($21.5 billion) in revenues.
One reason for the increased profitability is that the massive restructuring Sony underwent last year–which saw 16,000 people laid off–is finally paying off. Another reason, though, mentioned by the electronics giant was the improved performance of its Networked Products & Services division, which includes Sony Computer Entertainment.
During the same period last year, the Networked Products & Services division posted a ¥59 billion ($731.5 million) loss. From July-September 2010, the sector posted a ¥6.9 billion ($85.5 million) profit, thanks to higher PC sales and “the strong performance of [the] PlayStation 3 resulting from significant hardware cost reductions and higher sales.” The company did say that the games business shrunk year-over-year overall, reflecting lessening sales of its other platforms, the PSP and PlayStation 2.
As a result of the better-than-expected earnings during the July-September quarter, Sony now expects a profit of ¥70 billion ($867.7 million) for the full fiscal year, up from ¥60 billion ($743.8 million). It expects to sell 15 million PS3s during the year, as well as 8 million PSPs and 6 million PS2s. Software-wise, it predicts annual sales will be flat at 115.6 million PS3 games, 44.4 million PSP games, and 35.7 million PS2 games.
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