Despite Increase in PS3 Sales, Sony’s Profits Are Down

Sometimes, sales doesn't always equal profit.  As is the case with Sony's PlayStation 3 which has sold 3.7 million units during the three month period leading up to today's report. Despite being up from 3.5 million a year ealier, Sony reported losses in profits thanks, in part, to a recent PS3 price cut.

Sony's PlayStation 3 has now sold 56 million units globally, and trails Microsoft's Xbox 360 by only 1.3 million units in lifetime sales.  Take into account the PS3 launched almost an entire year afterXbox 360 and 16 months later in Europe, and it's hard not to be impressed with Sony's numbers.

Of course, the big thing here is profit.  You can sell as many systems as you'd like, but if it doesn't result in profit it's all for naught.  The Consumer Products and Services divison, which includes the PlayStation 3, TV, video, digital imaging, PC, and mobile businesses, posted an operating loss of 43.6 billion yen for the three month period, coompared to a 1 billion yen profit in the same quarter of the previous fiscal year.