The impending release of PlayStation 4 has resulted in Sony posting a 322 per cent loss in operating income during the company’s Q1 financial earnings.
Sony confirmed that its game business generated 117.9 billion yen ($1.2 billion) sales during the three-month period ended June 30 – a small decrease compared to last year’s 118 billion yen ($1.2 billion).
Production, marketing and R&D attributed to its next-generation console, PS4, has meant operating income has declined by 322 per cent. This accounts for a loss of 14.8 billion yen ($149 million), compared to last year’s loss of just 3.5 billion yen.
Conspicuous by its absence in the report however was PlayStation Vita. Sony did confirm that sales for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable were down, with PS3 shifting 1.1 million during the quarter, while PSP and PS Vita notched up 0.6 sales combined.
Once again, the company neglected to divulge standalone sales for its latest handled games console.
In terms of software, Sony moved 64 million titles via physical and digital mediums during the quarter.
Looking forward to the FY ending March 31, 2014, Sony anticipates sales to increase on the back of PS4’s launch, as well as operating income to decline due to marketing the machine.
What do you make of Sony’s Q1 results? Do you think things will improve with PS4? Why do you think PS Vita is still struggling to make an impact? Let us know in the comments section below.