Finally got a reply from EA Investor Relations.

I will explain in detail as I understand it later.

Basically, it is the non-GAAP revenue that is MOST USEFUL for comparison purposes and unit sales.

To expand:

For EA, the non-GAAP revenue is the actual sales (units sold) of the platform.

Therefore, if you look at the financial statements for comparison of game sales, you should look at the non GAAP revenue.

Therefore the "real" numbers for the Jun 2008 quarter was:

X360 = 81 million
PS3 = 68 million
Wii = 39 million

Conclusion: Last quarter for EA, the XBox Platform had the highest revenue, while the Wii had the lowest revenue.

For the PS3 and Wii, because there is an online component to the games, EA estimates a time to defer revenue.

So let's take Madden for example - a big release.

Sony sell $100 million

Their non-GAAP revenue will be $100 million - this is the actual "sales" of the game for PS3.

The GAAP revenue will be LESS THAN $100 million - because EA has to allocate a time frame (as per SEC and GAAP) to defer revenue.

Think of it this way:

$60 for a PS3 game

EA has to allocate for GAAP purposes (example):

$30 for the game sale (for example)

$30 for the "service" sale or the online component - Over a period of time

Usually as per EA's implication, 6 months on average

For the XBox, they have a different arrangement, therefore:

GAAP = non GAAP sales for XBox

EA implies that they have a different financial arrangement with Microsoft, hence the GAAP and non-GAAP revenues are the same.

EA would not get into detail about the arrangement, which is understandable.

hmmm
Quality analysis...

jeez, you've made up the majority of the posts in this thread bumidan. wouldn't it have made sense if you kept it all in one post?

Given the amount of stupid postings I've read on this site from people who have not the slightest idea on understanding and interpreting financial data, the stuff these guys do is pretty interesting.  Corporate have lots of crafty methods to disguise the true data, and many fanboys are too "stupid" to give a darn as to what the data is truly saying...so...you can continue to love being ignorant to the analysis, or you can actually try to learn something, but trying to slam guys trying to decipher this stuff is just plain...well...stupid.  Guess we need to go argue over who'd win in a Snake Vs. Master Chief fight (BTX...MC would smoke Snake's a$$)

@DOATS1

I usually break the original posts up so that it is a faster read, and you know when to break and gather your thoughts.

Also, I try to break, where the thought process breaks, so the reader can understand the logic easier.

Not that many people respond to these types of analytical posts. :)

@ bumidan

You're one of the most useful poster on the site....bar none! I'm definitely in your fan club!

Thanks heruamon.

Right now, I have run out of things to analyse.

So if you have any thing you want to "analyse" or break down, let me know and I'll try to look into it.