Sony: Second quarter financial reports for fiscal year 2008

Sony has just released their financial reports for the second quarter of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2008 (July 1, 2007 to September 30, 2007). The report indicates that Sony has made an operational profit of operating profit of  90.5 billion (US$ 787 million), with  an overall revenue growth of 12.3 % as compared to its figures from last year (2006).

This growth is attributed specifically to sales of the company’s Bravia LCD TVs, VAIO PCs, and Cybershot cameras, although sales declined for LCD-rear-projection TVs.

The report further indicates that Sony’s game division enjoyed a 42.9 sales increase since last year’s figures, thanks mostly to the PlayStation 3 and PSP Slim gaming consoles. The PlayStation experienced global sales of roughly 1.31 million for the quarter, with the PSP selling around 2.58 million units. The PS2 is also running strong with around 3.28 million sales.

On the downside to this report, Sony indicated that their games division suffered operating income losses of 96.7 billion (US$ 841 million), more than double last year’s reported losses of 43.5 billion (US$ 381 million). Sony’s official explanation for the disparity in this year’s losses appeared to link their recent price drops for the PS3:

This deterioration was primarily due to the loss arising from the strategic pricing of PS3 at points lower than its production cost and the increase in PS3-related inventory write-downs recorded during the current quarter compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

Sony further indicates that their inventory value stands at 248 billion (US$ 2.2 billion), or a 31.7 % increase since last year’s figures. This rise has been attributed to “build-up of finished goods inventory following the introduction of the PS3 platform in Japan, North America and Europe,” according to their official report.

Sony has just released their financial reports for the second quarter of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2008 (July 1, 2007 to September 30, 2007). The report indicates that Sony has made an operational profit of operating profit of  90.5 billion (US$ 787 million), with  an overall revenue growth of 12.3 % as compared to its figures from last year (2006).

This growth is attributed specifically to sales of the company’s Bravia LCD TVs, VAIO PCs, and Cybershot cameras, although sales declined for LCD-rear-projection TVs.

The report further indicates that Sony’s game division enjoyed a 42.9 sales increase since last year’s figures, thanks mostly to the PlayStation 3 and PSP Slim gaming consoles. The PlayStation experienced global sales of roughly 1.31 million for the quarter, with the PSP selling around 2.58 million units. The PS2 is also running strong with around 3.28 million sales.

On the downside to this report, Sony indicated that their games division suffered operating income losses of 96.7 billion (US$ 841 million), more than double last year’s reported losses of 43.5 billion (US$ 381 million). Sony’s official explanation for the disparity in this year’s losses appeared to link their recent price drops for the PS3:

This deterioration was primarily due to the loss arising from the strategic pricing of PS3 at points lower than its production cost and the increase in PS3-related inventory write-downs recorded during the current quarter compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

Sony further indicates that their inventory value stands at 248 billion (US$ 2.2 billion), or a 31.7 % increase since last year’s figures. This rise has been attributed to “build-up of finished goods inventory following the introduction of the PS3 platform in Japan, North America and Europe,” according to their official report.