Sony released its financial report yesterday, and things could be better for the PlayStation brand owner. Sales in its game business have fallen 14.5% since last year, with the company losing 3.5 billion yen as opposed to making a profit of 4.1 billion in 2011.
As Sony is often wont to do, it has obscured sales of its latest gadget, refusing to tell anybody how well the PlayStation Vita performed worldwide. This hush-hush policy has not been taken as a good sign, especially when added to the fact that Sony’s combined Vita and PSP sales were lower this year than the PSP’s solo sales figures last year.
Vita and PSP sales sat at a combined 1.4 million, down from 1.8 million in 2011. Software is down to 5.8 million from 2011’s 6.6 million. Sony’s lowered its forecasts for the fiscal year, and has said it expects a “significant decrease” in income. Similarly, Sony’s no longer expecting to shift 16 million handheld systems this year, lowering the prediction to 12 million.
Some of this can be blamed on the console generation winding up, but since the PS Vita is a new system, the portable side doesn’t look great. Sony’s got to be disappointed there, no matter how many times its spokespeople say otherwise.
Sony keeps Q1 PS Vita sales a secret [Videogamer]
