Sony revenues hit $78.5 billion

Games division losses down by nearly $1 billion over the last financial year; PlayStation 3 and the new slim PlayStation Portable see spike in sales.

Sony has today announced that consolidated sales and net income for its financial 2007 (April 1, 2007 to March 31, 2008) broke company records. Consolidated operating income was more than five times higher than the year before, and the second highest in the company's history. Sales of Bravia LCD televisions, VAIO PCs, and Cyber-shot digital cameras are the products that are selling best for Sony overall, while mobile phones and CRT televisions have seen a fall in sales.

Overall, sales and operating revenue was up 6.9 percent to ¥8.871 trillion ($78.5 billion), and operating income was up 422 percent to ¥374.5 billion ($3.3 billion). Income before taxes was up 357 percent to ¥466.3 billion ($3.9 billion), while net income for the whole of Sony was up 192.4 percent to ¥369.4 billion ($3.3 billion).

In the games division, sales increased by 26.3 percent over last year to ¥1.284 trillion ($11 billion). According to Sony, the PlayStation 3 saw a "significant increase" in sales, as did the PlayStation Portable, which Sony pointed out probably had to do with the release of a shiny new slim version.

Operating loss for the games division was almost halved from last year to ¥124.5 billion ($1.1 billion), an improvement of some ¥107.8 billion ($954 million) over the previous year.

Sony sold 9.24 million PS3s in fiscal 2007, bringing the total to just under 13 million worldwide. In comparison, Nintendo recently revealed that it has sold 24.5 million Wiis to date, with Microsoft selling 19 million Xbox 360s since the console's 2005 launch, according the company's latest figures.

PSP sales increased by 4.36 million year on year, bringing the total for fiscal 2007 to 13.89 million--last week, the company said it sold 34 million PSPs as of end of the 2007 calendar year. Sales of the PlayStation 2 were down by just under a million units with 13.73 million sold worldwide.

As for software, PS2 game sales slowed dramatically, down 39.5 million to 154 million, although Sony still sold more games on the PS2 than on the PS3 and PSP combined. PS3 game sales saw an annual increase of 44.6 million units to 57.9 million sold worldwide, and 55.5 million PSP titles left store shelves, an increase of 800,000.

Sony forecast that the games division would be back in the black in the next financial year due to hardware cost reductions and "an enhanced lineup of software titles in the PS3 business," despite falling PS2 sales.

Sony believes it will sell a further 9 million PS2s, 15 million PSPs, and 10 million PS3s during its 2008 fiscal year, which began April 1. For games, it wouldn't be drawn on its platform-specific projections, but said it believes it will sell 250 million units across the PS2, PS3, and PSP.

349 Comments

  • ureadyforacold1

    Posted Jul 1, 2008 2:42 am PT

    LOL salarianchemist. Microsoft's vale didn't drop solely becuase it issued a dividend. It dropped because of all the lawsuits and the stock price plummeted almost in half. Microsoft will be lucky to reach 300 billion again.

  • division_9

    Posted Jun 22, 2008 3:30 am PT

    Nobody cares what Microsoft is worth if they sell Xbox 360's with a double digit defect rate.

  • SalarianChemist

    Posted May 16, 2008 1:56 pm PT

    The Microsoft Corporation is worth far more than the entire Sony Group. Microsoft was worth $466 billion at the time Windows XP was released. Microsoft was the first company in history to reach $400 Billion in value. Corporate values often fluctuate based on stock prices, but the relative values don't lie--Microsoft is far more powerful than Sony.

    For example, only a short time ago, Microsoft was faced with the "problem" of having $80 billion in Liquid Asset "Cash" reserves. At that point, Microsoft decided to issue dividends to shareholders for the first time ever. As a result, the company decreased in value because the shareholders received the income. Bill Gates himself received $3.4 Billion dollars, which was slightly more than what the entire Sony Corporation earned.

    Just seven years ago, Sony was much more powerful than Samsung. But now, Samsung is far more powerful than Sony. Sony is the one buying parts from Samsung to use in their own products. Samsung has far more employees, far more value, and earns far more money.

    Sony fans have often not understood the difference between "Revenue" and "Net Income." A better example is General Motors Corporation. GM earns over $250 Billion in Revenue from all the expensive cars they sell. However, they lost $10 Billion in Net Income.

  • thenephariouson

    Posted May 16, 2008 11:41 am PT

    enoslives7,
    "Sony should just buy microsoft and euthanize it"

    LOL

  • enoslives7

    Posted May 16, 2008 9:54 am PT

    Winning the Blu-Ray / HD-DVD war is gonna pay dividends for years to come. Sony should just buy microsoft and euthanize it.

  • Yuck_Too

    Posted May 16, 2008 9:37 am PT

    --darkride66 --
    Sony stock hit $56...I personally sold earlier the moment it hit $54.

    A few short months there after it sank to just over $45 (a 5-year low) and market fluctuations aside it's been far more volatile then most.

    ...(I'm still holding the Nintendo stock I bought prior to the GC shipping)...

  • darkride66

    Posted May 16, 2008 8:21 am PT

    Yuck_Too said "For that division of the company that typically has profits of $500 million / year it's no wonder investors have been dropping stock."
    Say what now? Investor's aren't dropping Sony stock. S&P just raised their profit forcast for Sony a couple of days ago due to "signifcant margin improvement in games division and strong stand alone Blu-Ray sales." Sony took a hit, like every stock did from Jan-Mar due to the market turmoil, but still remains well above their average stock price from the last couple of years. In fact, the stock is close to the highest it's been since the teck wreck.

  • Yuck_Too

    Posted May 16, 2008 6:59 am PT

    Sony managed to lose $5 Billion in 2 years and it took MS 6 years to lose that much on the Xbox.

    From a business perspective since until a couple months ago with the PS2 outselling it they would have been better off waiting a couple years, releasing it at breakeven pricing and been $5 Billion richer.

    For that division of the company that typically has profits of $500 million / year it's no wonder investors have been dropping stock.

  • leonheart_z

    Posted May 16, 2008 4:44 am PT

    this is nice..i am happy for sony...

  • Olly464

    Posted May 16, 2008 2:47 am PT

    nice

  • GDCalibur

    Posted May 15, 2008 3:04 pm PT

    Good new for Sony. Hopefully they can keep this up. Always nice to see companies do well. Makes for more competition thus we get more games.

  • destrozz

    Posted May 15, 2008 2:51 pm PT

    Exactly what ive been trying to say PSWI60. points at CorruptGamerGX

  • Thigeic

    Posted May 15, 2008 1:16 pm PT

    @CageFury

    Unless I'm mistaken, GTAIV was orignally a PS3 exclusive. If not, then it has always been multi-platform since it's conception. Either way, it was not design specifically for the 360.

    GTA IV was naver an exclusive for anything(Maybe before the game started to develop) since its originaly made for the 360. But even then it was made for both consoles.

  • CageFury

    Posted May 15, 2008 12:03 pm PT

    darkride66: Don't even bother.

  • PSWi60

    Posted May 15, 2008 10:58 am PT

    Be a gamer not a corporate cheerleader

  • blackace

    Posted May 15, 2008 10:40 am PT

    aDhAmMe13 78.5 billion dollars.... I can somewhat recall the statistics for the PS3 b4 it came it saying it'll lose money for quite some time.
    **************************************************************
    The 78.5 billion is for ALL of Sony, not just the gaming division. I think people think they made that much just from their gaming division. Uuumm.. no. This includes all of their electronic divisions. Looks like they are finally out of the hole and can pay of those loans they took out a few years ago.

  • Pie_FOREVER

    Posted May 15, 2008 10:10 am PT

    Man GTA:IV for the PS3 has me by the throat even though it's not an exclusive. Metal Gear Solid 4 and Little Big Planet are both the highest priority on my radar in the coming months.

    Oh man, June 12th seems so far away....how anyone in these comments can spin this article to make it look bad is downright delusional and really needs to socialize

  • Irve

    Posted May 15, 2008 8:26 am PT

    wow .. they sell games for the PSP !!! well i never !!!
    i keep on thinking about buying some of the quality games on PSP .. but then i look at my collection of 6 games and thing .. dude .. you've not played any of those .. why do you need more !!

  • Ravenlore_basic

    Posted May 15, 2008 7:04 am PT

    I have 2 PS2s for the lan games :^) Time splitter with 8 people rules. Same with Halo 1 and 2 have 2 xboxes also. This gen I think I will only get a PS3 in 09 for $299.00 when game are more than they are now and NEXT GEN begins. Sony needs more exclusives that take advantage of Blu-Ray games that all are a big imporvement over last gen. The same game with Better graphics does notthing for me. The WOW moment fades after an hour of play and the games feel the SAME!!!!

  • YunalescaFFX

    Posted May 15, 2008 6:07 am PT

    hmmm the gap isn't as big as I thought it would be... The PS3 is definitely doing better than most though... on another note I want more PS2 GAMES produced!!! *have 2 PS2 at home incase my super-fat model dies out on me*

    Yep I still live in history but I can't help loving my PS2

  • darkride66

    Posted May 15, 2008 5:36 am PT

    @ quanloco. Ho Boy. Where to start? You helpfully pointed out that the games division lost 1 billion, put neglected to mention that this is part of the plan. The PS3 had huge R&D costs adding on to the fact that Sony still eats $260 or so on every PS3 sold. Now it looks like the costs should be down this summer enough that Sony should start making $ from PS3 hardware, a full 5 months sooner than expected. All in all this is the year they should break even. By comparison MS's game division also took 2 years before they started making any money, and this was after 6 years of losses. It's all part of the business. As for the Wi-Fi, I've used my PS3 since launch and I've almost never had a laggy moment. My 360 was wired (simply because it had no Wi-Fi) and I never had any problems there either. Despite your claims the performance seems to measure up just fine. Don't look at it as paying $50 for an online service, look at it as being charged extra to play 100% of your games as the developer intended where others don't have to. What do you get, better friend management for $50? A few more XBL games you'll never play? I downgraded my XBL to silver after I finished Halo 3 and have never looked back. I can't believe I paid it as long as I did. It seems like a rip-off now considering what PSN offers, and I've always though the XMB faster, cleaner and easier to navigate than the 360's blades. Just my opinion.

  • quanloco

    Posted May 15, 2008 5:25 am PT

    adhamme13 take a look at the head line again it says sony revenues 78 billion thats means like tvs, and all their other electronics plus there movies and music but notice that is says Games division losses down by nearly $1 billion over the last financial year. so that means the ps3 made nothing. Oh and the WI FI argument anyone who is a true hardcore gamer and wants the best possible connection to the net knows that WiFi does not have the best bandwidth and having it wired in is the best. I have the wifi capabilities but I hard wire for the best results. I would also rather pay 50 a yr for an online service that actually works well and that has a interface that is actually is easy to navigate. Just come to terms that the 360 has the full package when it comes to gaming. I can admit that the 360 will get eventually get out paced by the ps3 in numbers if MS does not put in a blu-ray player. Cage you are mistaken gta4 was never an exclusive to sony. Ms tried to pay them for exclusivity but they said no and just gave MS exclusive DLC for the 50 million.

  • abdullrahman

    Posted May 15, 2008 5:21 am PT

    holy ???? waht is this

  • kavadias1981

    Posted May 15, 2008 2:55 am PT

    Holy moly! Thatsa spicee mittaball!

  • aDhAmMe13

    Posted May 15, 2008 2:05 am PT

    78.5 billion dollars.... I can somewhat recall the statistics for the PS3 b4 it came it saying it'll lose money for quite some time.

  • blato

    Posted May 15, 2008 12:58 am PT

    Well, to settle your argument in regards to compression ratios in video games. All games now have been graphically compressed on this generation purely because of the size limitations of a dual layer DVD. If you look at any digital camera for example, you would have a standard and a fine resolution for any pixel count and the size of those files would differ considerably. Now, they would both be 7MP for example, the fine resolution would be double the size and you would also notice more details in the imaging. Now, they are both the same pixel rate and the same resolution, but the fine resolution will give you a better image. You could also look at AVCHD video from a high def camcorder and an uncompressed 1080p video recording. Both are 1080p, but the uncompressed video will have considerable more detailing in it's imaging. The more 1's and 0's you can put onto a disc, the more detailing you can put onto a screen.

  • CageFury

    Posted May 15, 2008 12:34 am PT

    Well of course, if you can have both. Have both. I'm with you there. But I don't have the time. Anyway, I'm done. Good night NEW YORK!!

  • leperphiliac

    Posted May 15, 2008 12:31 am PT

    the hand shake was to stop the argument and show that no matter if you have a PS3 or a 360 you are getting a great console, I will evenrtually get a PS3 in 2 years or so when the price drops heaps.

  • CageFury

    Posted May 15, 2008 12:28 am PT

    Hey man, I'm not saying any system is great until I see the cold hard facts and I think i've done a damn good job of laying them out for my side. Shaking hands won't do jack. I was never mad at you so we don't need to make up.

    *High-Five tho*

  • CageFury

    Posted May 15, 2008 12:25 am PT

    It doesn't work exactly like that. It's not like a zip file. But gamer gets the idea i guess.

  • CorruptGamerGX

    Posted May 15, 2008 12:24 am PT

    1. They made the game
    2. It was COMPRESSED when they found out the 360 is outdated with 9GB DVD's
    3. To be fair they also compressed the PS3 version even though wasn't needed
    4. It's COMPRESSED to 7.4 GB
    5. Uncompressed, it would be too large for a 360 disc like MGS4.

  • leperphiliac

    Posted May 15, 2008 12:24 am PT

    Ok lets all admit this argument is getting ridiculious, lets stop and shake hands and all admit we both have great systems.

    *puts hand out to shake*

  • CageFury

    Posted May 15, 2008 12:23 am PT

    Unless I'm mistaken, GTAIV was orignally a PS3 exclusive. If not, then it has always been multi-platform since it's conception. Either way, it was not design specifically for the 360.

  • leperphiliac

    Posted May 15, 2008 12:22 am PT

    the 360 came out 3 years ago you said when they made the game from the very beggining.

  • CageFury

    Posted May 15, 2008 12:20 am PT

    .. your point?

  • leperphiliac

    Posted May 15, 2008 12:20 am PT

    They started making the game 4 years ago

  • CageFury

    Posted May 15, 2008 12:17 am PT

    You're taking that too literally. By compressed, he means the design from the very beginning was downsized /"COMPRESSED" because of the storage capacity limitations. They had to make them identical BECAUSE of the 360.

    At least that's what I think he meant. That would make sense.

  • CorruptGamerGX

    Posted May 15, 2008 12:16 am PT

    Both version are ****ing compressed. There's no way in hell GTA4's massive cities can fit on a 9GB DVD. Hell San Andreas was on a Dual layer disc and that was for PS2.

  • leperphiliac

    Posted May 15, 2008 12:15 am PT

    The file s 7.4gb! The 360 disc can fit 9gb, the article is **** end of story.

  • CageFury

    Posted May 15, 2008 12:14 am PT

    ok, what does storage capacity limitations mean to you? Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that the reason the whole concept of compression was developed?

  • leperphiliac

    Posted May 15, 2008 12:12 am PT

    Ok I'm getting tired of complaing, now when they say limitations it does not mean COMPRESSION.

  • infestedcyborg1

    Posted May 15, 2008 12:11 am PT

    Some good news for sony keep it up!.

  • CageFury

    Posted May 15, 2008 12:11 am PT

    Are you janking me? I think your janking me. You crazy xbox fans..

  • CorruptGamerGX

    Posted May 15, 2008 12:10 am PT

    Let it go CageFury. This guy is clearly an idiot.

  • CageFury

    Posted May 15, 2008 12:09 am PT

    OMG.. if you don't need to compress it, then why would greater storage capacity be an issue?

    BTW both versions are the same size.

  • leperphiliac

    Posted May 15, 2008 12:08 am PT

    I rest my case

  • leperphiliac

    Posted May 15, 2008 12:06 am PT

    that does not say the 360 version is compressed! jeeze

  • CageFury

    Posted May 15, 2008 12:05 am PT

    Again... "When asked if the fact that, along with the greater storage capacity of the PS3's BLU-RAY DISCS...."

  • leperphiliac

    Posted May 15, 2008 12:04 am PT

    It said hard drive not disc space

  • CageFury

    Posted May 15, 2008 12:03 am PT

    "When asked if the fact that, along with the greater storage capacity of the PS3's Blu-ray discs, the Xbox 360's lack of a built-in hard drive--which is absent from the basic $299 Core model--presented limitations to the studio's design team, Houser reportedly gave a blunt one-word answer: "Yep." "

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