PS3 surge boosts Sony

An impressive year-on-year boost in PS3 sales has delivered a strong financial quarter for Sony for the three months ending June 30th 2010.

Losses at the Networked Products and Devices Division, which includes PlayStation, dropped to YEN 3.8bn – in the same period last year that number stood at YEN 36.7bn. Sales hit YEN 325.9bn, an increase of 32 per cent.

Total PS3 console sales for the period reached 2.4m, up 118 per cent compared to the same period in 2009 when 1.1m units were sold. Worldwide PS3 sales now stand at 38.1m.

PS3 software sales hit 24.8m units, an annual increase of 68 per cent.

PSP hardware sales were down year-on-year, but not by much. 1.2m portable consoles were sold in the period compared to 1.3m in 2009. Global PSP sales stand at 48.6m, meaning the device should be on target to break 50m by the end of the year (and possibly just before the arrival of the in-development successor).

Software sales on the machine actually enjoyed a year-on-year increase, climbing from 8.3m last year to 9.2m.

PS2 sales hit 1.6m for the period – the same as last year. Software sales tumbled by 60 per cent to 3.4m.

Overall, Sony saw an operating profit of YEN 67bn compared to a loss of YEB 25.7bn in the same period in 2009. Sales climbed 3.8 per cent at YEN 1.66 trillion yen with profit reaching YEN 25.7bn.