Sony Finances Still Dire: PS3 And PSP Sales Crash

Sony have announced their latest financial results [pdf link], and given their last set of figures revealed a dire 95-percent crash in profits a quarter ago, all eyes are on the Japanese giant to see if they've managed to turn things around.  Unfortunately, it's still not looking good: sales decreased 19.2-percent compared to the same quarter 2008, and an operating loss of 25.7bn yen ($268m) recorded.  That's 99.1bn yen down from the previous year.

Some of Sony's key products also put in a poor showing, with the PlayStation 3 selling just 1.1 million units during the three month period (down from 1.6m units a year ago) and the PSP selling 1.3 million units (down from 3.7m).  In fact the only good news in Sony's gaming division was the PlayStation 2, the cut to $99 of which pushed sales up to 1.6 million units compared to 1.5 a year earlier.

Sony are blaming a combination of factors for the poor showing, including a stronger yen compared to the dollar and euro this time last year, the general economic recession, and poor showings in affiliate companies.  The games division alone lost 39.7bn yen.