PS3 proved profitable in last Sony fiscal year

The PS3 was a bright spot for Sony in its fiscal year 2009 (ending March 31, 2010). Thanks to a strong yen and a rise in PS3 hardware sales (you go Slim!), the console finally became profitable for Sony at the tail end of the fiscal year, according to Reuters (via adriasang); despite the Networked Products & Services division, which includes games, seeing a decline in overall product sales. The division operated at a loss of ¥83.1 billion ($895 million), a marginal improvement over the previous year's ¥87.4 billion ($941 million) deficit. Still, Sony forecasts ¥160 billion ($1.7 billion) in company-wide operating profits for the current fiscal year (April 2010 – March 2011).

PS3 revenue is expected to increase this fiscal year from reduced manufacturing costs and a concerted effort to increase unit sales, following a strong showing last holiday season and a new and effective ad campaign. According to Sony, the company managed to ship 13 million consoles in its 2009 fiscal year, up from 10.1 million in fiscal 2008. Mainichi reports (via adriasang) that Sony expects to increase PS3 hardware sales to 15 million units this fiscal year.

However, PSP and PS2 hardware sales have shown decline. PSP sales, which totaled 9.9 million hardware units and 44.4 million software units in fiscal 2009, fell from previous fiscal year totals of 14.4 million hardware units and 50.3 million software units. PS2 sales in fiscal 2009 saw less of a percentage decline, totaling 7.3 million units sold; compared to 7.9 million units sold the previous fiscal year. PS2 software, however, experienced a sharp decline in sales, managing only 35.7 million software units sold as compared to fiscal 2008's 83.5 million units total.

Source - Sony Consolidated Financial Results for the Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2010 [PDF]
Source - PS3 Hardware Turns Profitable [andriasang.com]