Sony lowers its sales expectations for PS Vita and PSP again

Sony lowered its handheld sales forecasts for a third time today.

Early in the year, the company predicted it would sell 16 million combined units of its new PlayStation Vita and older PlayStation Portable handhelds worldwide. That breaks down to about 10 million Vitas and 6 million PSPs by March 31, 2013, or the end of the current fiscal year.

Sony cut that number down to 12 million in August — a noticeable dip and perhaps a more realistic figure. But once again, it's readjusting expectations: The company is now looking at 10 million combined units sold by March of next year. It hasn't mentioned, however, how many of those are PS Vitas and how many are PSPs.

But if the original estimate (16 million) calculated in 10 million Vitas, or roughly 60 percent of those sales, then it's possible that the new forecast is 6 million Vitas and 4 million PSPs — worldwide.

Expectations for PS3 and PS3 units remains unchanged at 16 million this fiscal year.

Sales in the games division at Sony have decreased 15.8 percent year-on-year for the second quarter (April – September). Operating revenue fell 23.8 percent. Sony blames lower PS3 and PSP hardware and software sales, as well as poor currency exchange rates.

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[Siliconera]