Hacking scandals and closures caused Sony to sink to yet another $1.1 billion loss for the fiscal year that ended on 31st March, but the organisation is finally planning a profit for the 12 months ahead. The company expects to make a cool $1.2 billion for the coming business term, and while iPhone cameras take centre stage, it's the PlayStation brand that's also increasingly becoming a real bread winner for the Japanese firm.
Indeed, in the fiscal year just finished, Sony Computer Entertainment was the company's biggest earner in raw revenue terms. In fact, sales for the division were up a whopping 33 per cent, netting the firm a staggering $11.5 billion. Its operating income also jumped, up from a $78 million loss to a $401 million profit. And while it was behind several other pillars in terms of pure profitability, we're pretty sure that CEO Kaz Hirai will be smiling at the 22.3 million PlayStation 4s that the organisation has now sold.
For those keeping tabs, it moved 14.3 million new-gen systems during the previous fiscal year, and it's aiming to sell 16 million during the year coming. This perhaps indicates that it may be planning a price cut – or that it knows about some serious software that's going to propel sales further. Either way, it's expecting this fiscal year to be better than the one that's just finished, and that means that it must have something big up its sleeve.
The one downside to all of this is that the PlayStation Vita continues to slide. Handheld sales – combining both the PlayStation Portable and its latest pocketable platform – tallied just 3.3 million units for 2014, down even further from the already atrocious 4.1 million units the year prior. Still, the platform holder won't be crying too much, as PlayStation Plus subscriptions brought in an absolutely astounding $3 billion – almost double the $1.7 billion that the premium service contributed the year prior.
Despite the overall losses, then, it's been a decent year for Sony, as it now looks ahead to a hopefully profitable future. Its smartphone business continues to be its most challenged division, as the Xperia line is muscled out by cheaper alternatives. But with virtually all of its other divisions now posting positive numbers, it's starting to look like Kaz Hirai may have finally steadied the ship. He'll be enjoying a relaxing round of Ridge Racer tonight.
[source sony.net, via news.sky.com, gamesindustry.biz, eurogamer.net]
Comments 40
It really is impressive all things considered, all they really have to do is gather guts to cut the liability loose.
Profit incoming!!! Yikes! Just throw everything we've got at VR...
Is their fiscal year April 1 - March 31? If so, they must expect Uncharted next Feb.
Good on Sony all around, but of course PS+ numbers have doubled. You need it to play online.
Awesome
Great job, Sony!!!!
@Sir_JBizzle
Right. And to some degree, I understand where they were coming from by slapping a paywall on online play- costs are increasing and they've been losing a lot of money for a number of years now, but at the same time I still want to believe that there was another way. That there was some other way to cut corners than take away the online privileges.
At least they didn't tamper with Vita's online. It may have had 3G models and games with online passes, but that I can live with.
If they do decide to make another handheld though, I can't help but wonder if it will have free online like the Vita, or paid online like PS4? Anyone's guess is as good as mine...
Excellent news. And critics say traditional gaming is dying...
Oh, and I always love the Kaz memes 😏
Sonys business plan for the PS4. Promise instant game collection - get customers - switch games to terrible indies like tower if guns - laugh at customers when money rolls in.
Great new's.
Hopefully we will see better game's each month and before anyone start's defending the rubbish we have had for the last 2 month's, I think PS+ is value for money even without the free game's (as long as it stays online) but if your going to give us game's please don't give us game's that feel more like an insult than a gift.
It's funny how whoever does the weekly charts on that vgchartz has lost the will to update them anymore because now the PS4 is killing the Xbox ONE
He used to LOVE doing the numbers when the X360 was winning last Gen(but it still lost in Worldwide sales to the PS3 in the end)
Anyway well done SONY
14.3 million new-gen systems, wow the PS4 is the new PS2 sales wise, lets hope it passes the PS2 overall sales which is not hard to believe.
This article kind of washed over some of the stiff overall losses Sony has still incurred--the vast bulk of which are sitting squarely on the shoulders of the mobile division. It's fantastic to see the Playstation division chugging away, eating up profits. I think Sony is really returning to form with the Playstation brand--returning to the industry-dominating position they held with the PS1 and PS2.
Now, with any luck, if the NX bombs like the Wii U, Sony will be in a position to merge their gaming division with Nintendo so Nintendo's games can finally be on good hardware.
@JaxonH
Sony didn't take away anyone's online privileges, nor did they remove anything from their online. It's not like they offered a great online experience and then showed up later to take away all of it's value by removing things, like voice chat or something. They took a paid service, made it robust, and improved upon concepts developed by Microsoft.
MS and Sony both have paid online, with loads of bonuses and solid infrastructure. On the other hand, Nintendo's online is free, weak, and worthless. Clearly, that money is used to make these services better.
Great news. Hopefully Project Morpheus and new gadgets bring about a new dawn for Sony. Shame vitas not doing to well... guess tablets and smartphones have challenged the handheld market. my idea for Vita.... Link it to google play and let us play android games on it. psn store & google play store on ps vita 2 or better name 'PSP2'... which has hdmi output to tv. win win
Good, hopefully this means Sony will put more weight behind the Playstation ecosystem. They're damn good at what they do and now with the PS4, it's their time to strike.
Maybe we could get some high profile Vita games too. That would be beautiful.
@Quorthon Even if the WiiU bombed Nintendo still profited in their FY results. Can't forget 3DS is a Nintendo product and they still sell amiibos like crazy. I doubt they'd simply merge with Sony. If anything Disney would buy them out for good.
Comgrats to Sony what a turnaround! Now we gotta see them bring it a little more with those triple A exclusives
@Quorthon You're kidding, right? Your posts never fail to amaze me.
BTW, do you work for Sony? Because no-one in their right mind would describe PSN like you did - y'know, the same PSN that is always down and/or DDOS'd. The same PSN that was hacked to hell in 2011. The same PSN that is part if SONY; a company whose online infrastructure is an utter joke.
The same Sony that still makes you pay for it. The same company that HAS taken online privileges - as you so falsely claim otherwise.
Also, love the crack about Nintendo's 'inferior' hardware. You do realise the PSOne and PS2 were the weakest consoles of their respective generations, right?
@Quorthon
Pretty sure the mods explained for you to not reply to me arguing after your ban (which covers NintendoLife, Pushsquare, an Pure Xbox). I am to report you if it continues, just so you know. It's probably better if you don't respond to me
Gandalf gif saved. He was head bobbing right on beat to my Trap mix.
Glad Sony is doing well. Any word on a PS4 slim version?
@JaxonH
Actually, nothing was ever said about responding to you. That'd certainly be an odd demand from a mod--"don't talk to that guy." For that matter, even if accurate, why would they give you private information stated to me? Ha, did they say to just avoid me? That'd be funny. Anyway, public forum. You could just be an adult and respond in a friendly manner or ignore me. It's your choice to turn to hostility. Try not to turn everything into a personal battle of persecution. I treat you no different than anyone else. I see something that sparks a response, I respond--and in that, Sony did not take away privileges from anyone.
@GraveLordXD
When you take everything offered together as value, then it's worth the whopping $5 per month. They make it worth your while. Besides which, it'd be highly unrealistic to allow players to keep the free games afterwards, as that would cut very deep into potential revenue, particularly in this current consumer market of waiting until nearly every game is on sale or buying everything used.
MS has adopted this standard now as well, which I think is vastly better than what they were doing before, which was basically giving you games that you could keep--but they were also games almost everyone using Live already had, several years old.
No online infrastructure is perfect, but yes, I have experienced quite a bit of stability in the PS4 online thus far. Occasional issues will always come up, that doesn't magically mean the service isn't worth it. For that matter, that means they then have the funds to address issues that do come up.
Expecting everything for free is just selfish narcissism. Games cost money to develop. Online services cost money to maintain. Either pay a small monthly fee and be happy, or demand an alternative that is awash in advertisements. But don't expect people to work on making it for no money.
@Kage_88
So... because PSN was hacked, that makes it bad? Because losers outside of the company committed an assault against the company, PSN is automatically bad? With that kind of thinking, the whole of the internet is bad and you should never pay for it or use it. Honestly, do you call Comcast and demand it be free when it goes down for maintenance? Do you call Century Link when it's out because someone broke something? That's a little like saying that your grandma is bad because she "allowed someone to mug her" on the streets.
Do you judge all things by a few notable negatives over a plethora of positives?
Or are you just upset that I said something accurate about Nintendo?
@BertoFlyingFox
Actually, Nintendo has had three years of pretty notable losses while the Wii U was, unfortunately, bombing. When they last posted profits, it was based more on "weak Yen" than increased income from sales. The next fiscal year may well see actual profits (ending March 2016), and NX looks like it'll be here in late 2016, which would match Iwata's comments about "returning to Nintendo-like profits" for the fiscal year ending March 2017.
I do agree in that I could also see Disney buying up Nintendo, but I'd just rather they go third party and continue to thrive under their own merits. I just don't think Nintendo would "spread the love" the way Sega did when they went third party. I think Nintendo would try to partner with someone for exclusive access to their games, and I'd expect that partnership with Sony well before Microsoft or Valve. Maybe Google. I'm kind of tired of Disney owning everything. They have a bit too much.
@Quorthon
Well, I gave you fair warning....
Ooo, grab the pop corn folks...
@Boerewors you forget they're bleeding money thru other products
@Quorthon @JaxonH That's quite enough both of you. You guys said what needed to be said no need to argue with each other. You two were both warned and quite honestly you two both need to knock it off. I don't think either of you want a vacation from the NL sites do you?
I have nothing productive to add to this conversation, so I'll just say "congrats Sony."
@Kage_88
Wouldn't say 'traditional' gaming is dying but I'm not sure it's as alive and well as we'd all like to think and hope either. Look at the state of the Japanese gaming market, not very good and with the issues companies like Ubisoft, EA, etc have had in the West, who knows what the future holds? PS4 and Xbox One have both sold well for the time each has been on the market, Wii U is showing positive momentum, but I still can't shake the feeling that not all is as well as it appears. Seems like whenever things are going good, something really, really bad happens, and it's usually something that was totally unnecessary and easily avoided if old, out-of-touch imbeciles (like those at Konami) or just straight up greedy jacka$$es (EA, WB) weren't running these companies.
Will Sony become the next Viacom? LOL!
@Quorthon
Sony is locking contents you paid in the game disc behind an online paywall? You bought the game, you should have access to its contents. /s
@xmeadx
Probably going to cone off as ajerk here, but not trying to. You don't need an apostrophe anytime you write games ( game's ), an apostrophe signals a possessive, so it would be correct if you were to say "the game's assets" or "the game's programmer" but when you're saying as plural as in: Games are getting crazy, no apostrophe 😄
I'm glad they're planning on making a profit this year, and I really hope they do. I feel like they'll shut down more divisions with more losses, and it would really be a shame if people lost their jobs because of that.
As for the PS4 sales, maybe these sales will encourage Sony to step up their game. It's kind of a shame Bloodborne is really the only game I'd say is the PS4's "killer app", considering it's been out for well over a year now. I won't complain too much, though. E3 is almost here, so hopefully we'll see a good amount of games there. I think the second half of 2015 will definitely be more "jam-packed" with game releases than the first half.
Still a shame the Vita is struggling. Easily one of the best machines I've ever experienced.
@GraveLordXD
By all means, that's your flavor. The other element is that, while paying for online helps shore up infrastructure and ensure it is maintained, having the freebies is a nice bonus. If you don't like it, then you don't like it. They aren't actually demos and you do keep your Trophies, after all. Whether you like it or not, the service has value.
@Tasuki
I would like to point out that I was in no way violating rules or attacking anyone, but attempting to grow up above the issues from before and have a conversation. I made a fair comment to get clarification. It is his choice to cast aside the olive branch, or accept it.
Talking about video games--or anything when a person is passionate--will always come with it's heated moments, exciting debates, and energetic moments. I can handle that, and it can oftentimes be fun and can and has even led to camaraderie in the past.
I can admit error in moving to aggressive comments in the past. The solution isn't to just sit there, arms crossed, face twisted in a grimace and avoid everyone.
By all means, if I responded differently to him than anyone else here, or targeted him in some specific manner to his self, it's only fair to point it out.
@outburst
I'm really not sure what you're trying to say. Are you saying that online gaming is on the disk and Sony locked it away? Or... something?
@Vineleaf
I think the Vita could be given new life with only two decisions from Sony.
1. Completely redo the memory cards: Lower the price, make them bigger, include at least a 16GB with every Vita.
2. Drop the price $50~75.
I think that would move a lot more Vitas. Because it's a shame, it really is a very nice system.
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