PS3 games drive Sony results

Nine months into Sony’s current financial year and the PS3 has already outstripped its total sales for the 2009 fiscal year, Sony has reported.

Year-to-date sales of the machine now stand at 15m – 2m units ahead of the total 2009 sales figure. Q3 sales reached 6.3m units, which is actually slightly down on Q3 2009’s unit sales of 6.5m.

The most impressive growth was seen in PS3 hardware, however, with unit sales nearly doubling from 29.3m in 2009 to 57.6m this year.

PSP unit sales were down 600k to 3.6m while PS2 console sales remained flat at 2.1m.

Overall numbers for the Networked Products and Services Division saw income rocket 134.9 per cent to Y45.7bn ($564m). Sales were down 6.4 per cent at Y567bn ($7bn).

"The game business benefited from significant cost reductions of PS3 hardware and higher unit sales of PS3 software, which favourably impacted the change in segment operating results," a company statement read.

Some harsh foreign exchange rates lead to overall numbers for the Sony business that belied its strong performance.

Sales for the quarter ending December 31st reached Y2,206bn ($27.2bn), a decline 1.4 per cent. Operating income was down 5.9 per cent at Y138bn ($1.7bn). Net income fell 8.6 per cent to Y72bn ($893m), though when taxes are removed from the equation income is up 6.2 per cent at Y132bn ($1.6bn).

"A significant unfavourable foreign exchange impact outweighed positive factors for the quarter," Sony added.

"Operating income in the Networked Products & Services segment increased significantly due to the contribution of the game business, while operating income decreased in most other segments, particularly the Consumer, Professional & Devices segment which was negatively affected mainly due to LCD televisions."

Sales at Sony Ericsson reached €1.5bn, a decrease of 12.7 per cent.