Sorta Off Topic: PS3 pulls down Q3 earnings for Sony
(from Reed Business Information... if you want to know how Sony's doing financially, here's a good article on their latest reporting...) -Auri
Filmed entertainment sales leaped 46% on Da Vinci Code, Talladega Nights DVDs
By Susanne Ault 1/30/2007
JAN. 30 | Despite gains in its film and DVD division, Sony Corp. recorded fiscal third-quarter earnings fall-offs, partly because of expenses related to its debut of the PlayStation 3.
For the three months ended Dec. 31, Sony posted 159.9 billion yen ($1.34 billion). That marks a 5.3% drop from the comparable 2005 period.
Total revenue jumped 9.8% to 2.6 trillion yen ($21.9 billion).
Thanks to high DVD revenue for box-office hits The Da Vinci Code, Talladega
Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and Click, Sony filmed entertainment sales soared 46% to 297 billion yen ($2.5 billion). Other bright spots were theatrical successes Casino Royale and The Pursuit of Happyness.
The performance of the company¹s game division was mixed, however.
Sony officials said 1.84 million units of the PS3 were shipped worldwide during the quarter, which contributed to an overall 5.6% sales lift in Sony¹s game unit to 442.8 billion yen ($3.7 billion). But the game division drew an operating income loss of 54.2 billion yen ($455 million).
³This deterioration was primarily the result of the loss arising from the sale of PS3 at strategic price points, as well as the recording of other charges in association with the preparation for the launch of the PS3 platform,² stated Sony officials in an earnings release.
In a Tuesday call with analysts, Sony representatives acknowledged currently weak tie-in ratios for software titles bought per PS3 console sold. But they remained upbeat because tie-in ratios are pacing better than PlayStation 2¹s launch ratios.
Sony also was hurt by softening shipments of PS2 and PlayStation Portable hardware, each of which were hit by decreases of 1.24 million units and 4.46 million units, respectively, versus fiscal third-quarter 2005. For the 2006 period, PS2 shipments reached 4.11 million, and PSP was at 1.76 million units.
Also, PS2 software shipments fell by 15 million units to 78 million units total shipped for the quarter.
Sony electronics lines fared well, most notably its Bravia LCD TV line and Cyber-shot digital cameras. Sales in this unit rose 16.9% to 1.87 trillion
($15.7 billion).
Although Sony¹s fiscal third quarter experienced certain shortfalls, the company has raised its outlook for its fiscal year ended March 31. The company predicts its net income will equal 110 billion yen, which is up 38% from its last forecast in October.
© 2006 Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.