Sony PlayStation revenue falls by £180 million

Sony has moved back into profit for the first time in five years despite a significant drop in revenue from its games business.

Sales and operating revenue for Sony’s games business decreased 12.2 per cent year-on-year to £4.5 billion ($7bn).

Operating income for the sector decreased by £180 million ($280m) to nearly £12million ($18m), which Sony blamed on declining hardware sales of PS3, Vita and PSP hardware and the impact of a price reduction on the Vita in Japan which took place February.

The console giant said the drop in revenue was due to a decrease in sales for PS3, Vita and PSP hardware.

During the last financial year, Sony sold 16.5 million PS3 and PS2 consoles, down 1.5 million from the year prior. The firm also sold seven million handheld systems, down just 200,000 from the year before.

Software sales for the PS2 and PS3 meanwhile fell from 164.5 million to 153.9 million, while handheld software sales also dropped to 28.8 million from 32.2 million.

Despite a significant drop in revenue for the games business, Sony expects sales to increase sharply following the launch of the PS4.

It said operating income however would remain flat year-on-year due to research and development expenses, as well as marketing costs for the PS4.

Overall net profit for Sony hit £280 million, making it the first time the company had reported a yearly profit in five years, having reported a £3 billion loss the year prior.