PS3 sales jump 85% in Q2

Sony’s PlayStation division has posted a ten per cent year-on-year rise in revenues for its Q2 2008-2009.

The division reduced quarterly losses in the three months to the end of September, selling 2.43 million PlayStation 3 consoles during the quarter – up 85 percent from the same period a year earlier.

The department reported losses of 39.5 billion Japanese yen ($405 million), compared with losses of 96.7 billion yen ($992 million) in 2007.

Revenues grew from 243.4 billion yen ($2.5 billion) in 2007 to 268.5 billion yen ($2.76 billion) this year.

However, it was a less rosy story for PlayStation’s parent company, as Sony Corp.’s quarterly profit plunged 72 percent.

According to The Associated Press, ‘a surging yen wiped out perks from flat-panel TV and PlayStation 3 sales, as well as box office revenue from the movie Hancock’.

Sony said it posted a net profit of 20.8 billion yen ($214 million), compared with 73.7 billion yen a year earlier. Sales in the fiscal second quarter slipped 0.5 percent to 2.072 trillion yen ($21.4 billion).

"We already expect a poor performance for the Christmas shopping season," Chief Financial Officer Nobuyuki Oneda told reporters. "On how things will fare after Christmas, I can only say we will continue to keep a careful look."

Sony makes about 80 per cent of its sales overseas and is vulnerable to fluctuations in exchange rates. A rising yen erodes the overseas profits when converted into the Japanese currency, reports AP.