Ben-DutkaPrice drops tend to work.
Sony issued a worldwide price drop for the PlayStation 3 in August and in a financial report released today, the company revealed that the price cut allowed console sales to rise during the quarter ending September 30.
The PS3 sold 3.7 million units in that span of time, 200,000 more than the same period last year. The PlayStation brand saw other increases as well: PS3 software sales were up from 35.3 million to 37.4 million, and even the PSP hardware rose a few hundred thousand units to 1.7 million. Software for the portable fell to 8.1 million (down from 11 million in Q2 2010), and the PS2 has continued its fall back to earth; hardware sales were down 300,000 to 1.2 million and software has been halved; 5.6 million to 2.8 million.
However, despite PlayStation's good performance, Sony's Consumer Products & Services division (which also includes TVs, home audio, cameras, and other personal electronics) fell 12% to ¥779.7 billion ($9.99 billion, £6.24 billion) for the quarter. Sony cited "unfavorable foreign exchange rates and a deterioration of the market in the US and Europe" as reasons for the decline. The company was down 9% overall.
But when the PS3 falls in price, one can almost always expect a rise of some kind.
Hate to hear about losses
Yes, it is a shame. But let us face it… look at what is happening economically, and what a torrid year it has been generally.
The huge tsunami in Japan, a hideously strong Yen… and generally, fierce competitions cross the board. I think the trading environment will get worse and not better.
At least the PlayStation division is holding its own… and PS3 games continue to impress. Doesn't matter though… if the Sony as a corporate is not making a profit, it brings everything else down 🙁
Q!
"play.experience.enjoy"
What a shame
Exchange rates in the Eurozone are killing profits for foreign companies with major sales in the region. I think Nintendo cited this as a factor in their recent results as well. Sony has also seen the profitability of the HDTV business fail due to the influx of cheaper sets made in China et al.
Of course the first genuine economic Depression (not recession) in 80 years isn't helping.
no blaming canada this time highlander?
The high manufacturing costs (and the resulting high price tags) of Sony HDTVs are what is killing the company, IMO. Samsung (Korea) and Vizio (Taiwan) are able to sell HDTVs of the same quality, but at a much lower cost. Just yesterday, Sony divided its TV business into three divisions: LCDs, outsourcing, & future TVs.
Recently, Sony also bought for total control of Sony Ericsson probably to increase its competitiveness against Samsung's Galaxy and Apple's iPhone.
At least the PS3 news is a great positive. There reports saying that the PS3, 360 deficit has already decreased to under 2 million units. Let's hope that Sony at least substantially decrease its losses.
This is indeed The Great Depression 2 and it could be a decade or even longer before things improve.
I feel more for those college graduates who might not be able to get the jobs they were hoping to get than Sony posting a loss due to a bad economy, though.
Cesar,
Oh, blaming Canada is too easy, besides, everyone else is blaming Greece….
Aura, Sony retains some of it's Japanese manufacturing capability for it's HDTV line, and that is far more expensive than cranking them out in the factories that surround the smog choked Beijing. The other TV makers you mention make even greater use of the excessively cheap production facilities than Sony, so their costs are lower. I would refute though that the product quality is the same. In terms of the functionality, the specs may well match, but the internals such as the video engine are clearly not the same. IMHO that is the differential for Sony. That said, everyone has a preference, and not everyone prefers Sony's Bravia engine. However even if the functional quality is equivalent, I believe that Sony products have the edge in terms of build quality. Sony products made in Japan retain their premium quality compared to the ones stamped out elsewhere.
But in the middle of a depression, few people are willing or able to spend additional money on a higher quality product when there is a less expensive option to achieve the same function.
I agree with you on the quality of the TV's that Sony produce. I own Sharp, JVC, Panasonic, and Sony HDTV's and my Sony (though newer) seems the best built TV. Everything is glass/Aluminum when all the others are plastic and glass…my Panasonic is a plasma and every time I go to move it (on a 3 direction wall mount) is creaks between the plastic and glass.
I can "feel" the quality in my Sony and can see the difference when I put my Sharp LED next to it (watch 2 screens during College football – both were bought this year though the Sony is 840HZ vs 240 for the Sharp.
I really hope Sony keeps building better quality electronics and not just stamp out quick and cheap garbage. *though I wish they would build better surround sound receivers; I just can seem to get away from Onkyo's sound quality.
not china, samsung.
there kicking the sh*t out of $onys TVs and have been ever since they replaced the XBRs!
biggest mistake $ony ever made!
i wanted to get one for downstairs, but they replaced it with the different 3D model cant remember what its called.
they should of kept the XBRs separate, just the name brand alone would of been enough to keep them popular.
other manufactures quality has drastically increased lately too which has not helped.
comparing a sammy to a bravia use to be comparing a brand new Ferrari to a 20 year old beetle.
now though its quite even, if anything slightly turned.
my cuzs sammy 8 series which is the equivalent to my bravia looks 10 times better then my TV!
Oh man, don't get me started on the Euro! A single currency with a standard value within numerous, independent countries of various values. Who the hell thought THAT would work?! I firmly believe it's a setup. They want the Euro to fail, the USD to fail. This way, a global currency is made and banks control every inch of planet earth.
I wonder which segment cost them the most loss…
Banks already have that control, they don't need a single currency to make it work. If anything multiple currencies plays into their hands since they can scoop revenue from the near costless electronic transfer of funds internationally. All those fees and exchange rate differences…free money for banks that is simply sucked straight from customers pockets.
this economy is hurting so bad, i was listening on the radio that people at least in Canada are using the food bank more than ever due to this "recession"
that sucks…i have been seeing a lot of headlines about sony losing money but i did not know how accurate they were. surprised the price drop only led to 200,000 more ps3's being sold over the same time period. i would have thought it would have been more.
not exactly the way you want to be entering the next hardware cycle considering i once read sony lost 4.7 billion getting the ps3 out the door. it's apparently expensive luanching new hardware. nintendo has recently posted a 660 milion dollar loss. exchange rates were a factor, but they missed their sales targets for the 3ds as well. bad luanch for the 3ds.
@cesar
blame canada? that made me laugh. south park reference. if only those damn canadians would do their part sony would not be posting a loss :).
Last edited by Excelsior1 on 11/2/2011 12:11:38 PM
The development costs for the PS3 were paid for before the unit was launched, that is the cost of doing business in the consumer electronics sphere. As I have pointed out previously, the PS3 was the foundation for BluRay and HD video, which has in turn supported Sony's BluRay products, HDTVs and 3D HDTVs, not to mention their content sales on Bluray which has allows content producers to shift more focus to higher revenue BluRay instead of the increasingly bargain basement DVD. The point being that for Sony, PS3 was not simply a bout PS3 and selling more PS3s. It was about the technology that it brought and promoted.
The only thing is, that Sony had to know that as BluRay and HDTV/3D HDTV reach mass market/commodity pricing, their profitability becomes razor thin, and competitors with far lower manufacturing costs become a large factor. I'm just not sure what their response to that is.
i'm not sure what their response to that is either. somehow they must lower their manufacturing costs i guess. that's definitely tough to do. maybe come up with a cheaper line of hdtv's or something? i must admit there tv's are on the expensive side. i do have a sony bravia hdtv but i also have a much larger samsung that i was able to purchase at a cheaper price point. i got bigger tv that was almost $200 cheaper than a its sony counterpart. i even like the picture a little more on the samsung for some reason. maybe just becuase it's bigger? i don't know…in this economy its understandable that people are not wiling to pay a premium for the sony brand plus the quality of sony's lower priced competition has improved imo.
thank god sony won that format war. the only thing i will say about that is i noticed a lot of people have stuck with dvds. they don't seem to care about blu rays as much for some reason…probably becuase of price. my local video store only started carrying blu rays about a little over a year and half ago and their selection is terrible. they don't even rent out a ps3 either although they carry games for it. they rent out all the other systems. strange. they also have a glowing neon 360 logo in their window and a nintendo sticker but no ps3 logo :(. i've asked them why but nobody knows the answer.
Last edited by Excelsior1 on 11/2/2011 3:52:19 PM
SONY's TV business has been posting losses for the past 8 years. They should get rid of it.
Nah what they should get rid of is: Sony Style boutique.
OMG I don't know if you people have one of those near you but… The people they employ there are the most stuck-up dim-wits you'll ever see. They act high-and-mighty and don't know crap about what they sell.
I've been to 3 of these boutiques and it has always been the same. I blame Sony style for the TV dept's loss! XD
hey hey hey i play my part as a canadian lol. i have a psp, ps, ps2, ps3 and a nice big sony 3d tv. not ALL canadians are at fault (just some) xp
Why are Canadians at fault? Please explain.
Well that's what happens sometimes you gotta fall but remember sony is always going to get back up and still do good. At least this way more gamers are experiencing ps3!
hey i play my part as a great canadian as well the only thing i haven't done is have $ex with anyone from sony LOL But if that's what it takes (JK)
@shiroxkatsuya hows the 3D tv going the Sony brand is actually the only one that doesn't make me sick to my stomach 🙂
Twas like reading a sad story.
This is their 4th yearly loss in a row. I hope they can turn it around. We all want a PS5.
i always prefer sony for home appliances since walkman days, but they should seriously put some work on AV recevers, maybe collabrate with BOSE for speakers & onkya or yamaha for AV recevers, then my room will be like a sony product demo room…;)
Last edited by saini on 11/2/2011 9:24:33 PM
scary to see the ps3 selling so well this year yet $onys still seeing a $1.2 billion loss this year alone!
wow, 1.2B now thats gotta hurt!
$ony have been bleeding money ever since the ps3 released and its quite obvious why!
1 the system was far too expensive to buy, far too expensive to make, and far too expensive to fix.
2 it too long to get exclusives, and took even longer to get decent exclusives, and even longer to get great must have exclusives!
3 PSN took FAR too long to get to where it is now.
4 the whole inferior multiplatform games did not help them.
5 and of course last but i think the one thats hurt them the most.
their treatment of their fans.
i think father kens words of the ps3, the “ps3 is the system that will make people work that bit more to ownâ€.
that just shows the extent of their arrogance!
not to mention their usual exclusive to US BS!
why does SCEE even exist!?
$ony just announced that the ps3 is the best selling console in EU, so why are they treating EU like sh*t?
US say f*ck you $ony so they get treated like royalty!
EU says thank you $ony we love you so they get treated like sh*t!
how does that work!?
and of course cant forget their unorganization.
every single time a big ps3 exclusive comes out they have PSN maintenance.
uncharted 3 comes out today, so they schedule PSN maintenance for today.
WTF?
the day the biggest game of the year comes out and millions want to play online is the day they decide to take it down so people cant do so.
yea, i rest my case!
i always said $ony has the organizational skills of a freaking chimpanzee but they did not have to prove it to me!
its official, $ony really is run by a bunch of chimpanzees!
i mean come on out of all the days PSN maintenance could of been done, it had to be today?
only worse time would of been when MW3 comes out, but knowing $ony id be surprised if theres not PSN maintenance then too!