Sony Posts Q1 Numbers (PSP shipment update, losses due to PS3, etc.)

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ahLc.JbemJtE&refer=home
http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/060727/0148109.html
http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/financial/fr/06q1_sony.pdf (similar to link above, but in pdf format)

Nothing really stands out from what I can tell, but I went ahead and posted this anyway since I posted similar threads for Nintendo and Microsoft.

They shipped 2.02M PSPs during the quarter (putting them at ~20M WW according to the SCEI site), which probably isn't that great. I didn't realize this when I was posting in the DS thread, but they also shipped a similar amount in the previous quarter (FWIW, ~6M were shipped 2 quarters ago, which more than doubled the PSPs shipped at the time I believe...that was during the holidays though). As VesceySux mentioned in that thread, Sony wouldn't be able to flood the market forever, and it does appear as though PSP shipments have hit a wall (particularly in Europe). The software numbers seemed decent though. Maybe it is time for a price cut? That, or the "PSP2."

The PS2, if anyone cares, shipped another 2.54M during the quarter, putting it at ~106M shipped WW.

The Game Division lost ~$233M during the quarter despite the profit that the PS2 and PSP bring in. This was due to preparation for the PS3 as well as high R&D costs associated with the PS3.

Sony as a whole made like $281M (27B Yen) for the quarter; apparently analysts that Bloomberg surveyed expected Sony to only make 6B Yen (don't feel like converting that, but that seems like a huge difference from the actual numbers). I think they upped their profit forecast for the end of the FY (now at 130B Yen instead of 100B Yen). You can read more about that at the Bloomberg link or in the PDF file.

I'm not sure if they had any forecasts for PSP, PS2, or PS3 shipments (except the PS3 forecasts would probably be the same that they already stated). I haven't seen any, but if I see anything noteworthy, I'll post it.

BTW, I forgot to mention this in the 360 thread on this subject, but I believe MS is cutting down to just 3 divisions now. The Xbox business was in the H&E division, which made it difficult to figure out how well they were doing (everything in the division except the Xbox business has been profitable AFAIK). The H&E division got merged into one of the 3 remaining divisions I believe, so there goes any real possibility of figuring out how much money they are making/losing on the 360 (unless of course, MS becomes more open about how things are going for some reason).

 

Yeah, pretty much the same here. I have a 1st-gen PS2 that's been working fine, even to this day (and hopefully will keep on doing so until I can get a PS3). From what I've noticed, my friends have had similar luck I guess. Funny thing was that a friend of mine said Gamecubes always gave him the most trouble by far (PS2s were the least trouble); I've always heard that GCs were the most reliable of the 3. Go figure.

Yeah, you're on your own there. I only look at this stuff for updates on shipment numbers and a rough idea on how much money these companies are losing/making on games. I don't even think I know what GAAP stands for...although I could easily look it up.

Nevertheless, I would assume that the losses would continue for a while as well. I should have mentioned this earlier, but the $233M in losses does seem a bit high when you consider that the system isn't even being sold yet (not to mention the profits that come from the PS2 and PSP). If they're losing that much now, it probably won’t get any easier for the next few quarters (although PS2 and PSP sales might help out a bit more).

Yeah, I probably didn't pay attention to it last year. The first I saw of it was a couple days ago when people brought it up while discussing the MS numbers.

 

For those that aren't into the PSP homebrew stuff, there was another firmware update today as well. This is 2.80 and here are some of the features:

There are also 2 new demos out: Mercury Meltdown and some soccer game (World Tour Soccer I think). Both require 2.8 I think. If anyone is curious, I'll post links to those demos, as well as maybe links to the other 2 demos (LocoRoco and Sudoku). I think only LocoRoco is available on the US Playstation site, so it is a little difficult to get them all.

 

I did have a scare early on this year when it appeared as though my PS2 stopped playing CD-based games. I read some FAQs, and one suggested switching the position of the PS2 (from vertical to horizontal or vice versa). I thought it was stupid, but it ended up working. I didn't even have to keep it there the whole time, but just long enough for the PS2 to recognize and load the game.

I still can't believe something so simple was so effective.