Sony thrives in spite of PS3 losses
updated 04:10 pm EDT, Thu July 26, 2007
Sony Thrives Despite PS3
Sony today sent word that its profit had soared in the spring, reaching a record level of 552 million dollars between April and June. The result largely sprung from very strong sales of the company's Cyber-shot camera line as well as its Bravia LCD sets and Handycam DV cameras. This was also a dramatic turnaround from a nearly $567 million loss during the winter, according to Sony's statistics. However, the Computer Entertainment division that handles the PlayStation 3 game system noted that its losses had only continued to worsen, growing to just over $245 million due to the struggling sales of the Blu-Ray console.
The company noted that the relatively low 710,000 PS3s sold during the three months was paradoxically a good event for Sony, which currently sells the $499 PS3 at a loss and would actually have seen greater losses had more consoles passed through its doors. Making the console profitable and overtaking competitors were still in the future, said the company's chief financial officer Nobuyuki Oneda.
"We believe that the main battle is still ahead of us," he stated.
Its rival Nintendo had sold almost five times more consoles worldwide at 3.43 million and has essentially sold the system at break-even or a slight profit, which lessened the need to also sell a certain number of accessories and games with each system to recoup the initial investment.
