PlayStation division on the up

Sony’s Networked Products and Services division, the home of its PlayStation business, has recorded an operating profit of YEN 35.6bn (267m) for the fiscal year ending March 31st.

In the same period last year the Division reported a YEN 83.3bn loss.

Sales grew slightly to YEN 1,572bn (12bn). PS3 hardware sales totalled 14.3m units – a year-on-year increase of 1.3m. Sony forecasts PS3 unit sales of 14m units in the year to come.

PSP sales fell 1.9m to 8m units. PS2 sales actually fell less – down 1.1m to 6.4m units. Sony expects PSP to drop by a further 2m in the year ahead.

PS3 software sales were up sharply, climbing from 115.6m last year to 147.9m. PS2 game sales halved, falling from 36.7m to 16.4m

Overall, Sony took the big hit it had previously warned of, recording a YEN 256.9bn (193m) loss. Sales fell slightly to YEN 7,181bn (54bn). It estimates the PSN outage to cost around $170m in next year’s figures.