PlayStation 3 unlikely to break even, says DFC Intelligence

Research firm DFC Intelligence has said that the PlayStation 3 is unlikely to break even during its lifetime on sale.

Speaking at the Game On Finance event in the US, senior technology analyst Wanda Meloni argued that "Sony has the most to lose with this current generation," according to a report by Gamasutra.

DFC expects that the PlayStation 3 will only maintain between 40 and 50 per cent of the games market by the end of the current generation, compared to 67 per cent during the height of the PS2 era.

Yesterday, Sony's financial results revealed that its Games division is managing to cut its losses. For the three months to the end of September 2008, losses were at JPY 39.5 billion (USD 405 million), compared to a loss of JPY 96.7 billion (USD 992 million) for the same period the previous year.

PlayStation 3 hardware sales are growing, with 2.43 million units sold for the same three months, compared to 1.12 million the previous year. Unit sales of PS3 software are also up from 10.7 million to 21.1 million, although a decline in PSP and PS2 games has left the company with a drop in software sales overall.