Game division sales decreased 15.8 percent year-on-year to $1.9 billion, according to Sony. Operating income also fell 23.8 percent from a year ago, to $29 million. The electronics giant attributes the decreases to lower-than-expected PlayStation 3 and PSP hardware and software sales, and unfavorable foreign exchange rates. The losses were reportedly offset by sales of the PlayStation Vita, which debuted in December 2011, and by a drop in selling, general, and administrative expenses.
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":567722,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"games,","session":"B"}']Despite the gaming division’s flagging performance, Sony showed signs of improvement in Q2. Sales were up 1.9 percent compared to the same quarter of the previous fiscal year, primarily due to a significant bump in sales in Sony’s mobile division.
Sony is now adjusting its outlook for the games division for the fiscal year, which ends on March 31, 2013. The corporation previously slashed Vita sales expectations back in August, lowering its estimate from 16 million to 12 million portable consoles. It’s once again expecting lower portable hardware sales, from 12 million to 10 million consoles, but says it’s working to further spread the PS Vita platform through various means, including what it calls an “attractive software lineup.”