PlayStation 3, PSP and software sales down for Sony

Sony has recorded a loss for the first quarter of the year, with a decline in sales of the PlayStation 3 and PSP hitting the company's Networked Product and Services division.

The company sold approximately 1.1 million PlayStation 3's during the quarter and 1.3 million PSP units, compared to 1.6 million and 3.7 million, respectively, for the same period last year. Sales of the ageing PlayStation 2 reached 1.6 million for the quarter.

Sales for the PlayStation business, which also includes Viao PCs, were down 37.4 per cent year-on-year, to JPY 246.8 billion (USD 2.571 billion), "due to lower game and Vaio PC sales," said the company.

The division recorded an operating loss of JPY 39.7 billion (USD 414 million) for the three months ended June 30, compared to JPY 4.6 billion, again, "mainly due to a deterioration in profitability in the game and Vaio PC business."

Specifically, the company noted a decline in software sales and PSP hardware sales.

Sales of Sony's PlayStation 3 software reached 14.8 million units for the quarter ended June 30, down from the 22.8 million units sold during the same period last year.

Game sales for the PlayStation Portable also dropped, with Sony selling 8.3 million first-party titles, compared to 11.8 in the first quarter of the 2008 financial year.

And although the PlayStation 2 sold more units during the quarter than the PS3 or PSP, software sales also fell to 8.5 million units, down from the 19.3 million in 2008.

The entire Sony business recorded an operating loss of JPY 25.7 billion (USD 268 million), down from the JPY 73.4 billion profit a year earlier.

Net loss was JPY 37.1 billion (USD ), compared to a profit of JPY 35 billion for the three months in the prior year.