I borrowed this from Rolstoppable in another thread. It gives you an idea of how long it took for the PS1 and PS2 to start making money and how quickly the PS3 is wiping that money out.

http://www.sonet.co.uk/SonyInfo/IR/financial/ar/Archive.html

Sony Annual Reports Game Operating Income
YearEnd Mar 31 Yen(B)

2006 8.7
2005 43.2
2004 67.6
2003 112.7
2002 82.9
2001 (51.1)
2000 77.4
1999 136.5
1998 117
1997 57
1996 (5)

PS1 era (1996-2000) made 383B yen. PS2 era (2001-2006) made 264B yen.

PS2 *was* (and still is) profitable, but not as much as the PS1. Sony sold PS2 for too little to make as much as the PS1, before the next gen. box came along.

For Fiscal Year 2007 and 2008

Q2 (96.7)
Q1 (29.2)

2007 (232.3)

So far the PS3 era (2007-now) has lost (358B yen). So, they have now lost all they made on the PS2 (including what PS2 made the last year and a half), and are working on losing the PS1 profits as well.

The problem with this thread is the title.  There's nothing in that article to suggest Sony will post a profit soon.  Just look at what he says:

"(profitability) is not a definite commitment, but that is what I would like to try to shoot for,"

So usually bold and brassful Sony execs are looking at maybe possibily trying to realize a profit in overall sales at some point in the next fiscal.   Once they are done looking at their budget (as he states) they may decide it's not a realistic target (which he doesn't state but implies).   

So in optimal circumstances it's not impossible for Sony to make some kind of profit.  That IS good news.  And this DOES suggest they may be closer than we thought, but I think some people here are getting a little too excited about this totally noncommital comment.

For the record, I definately want Sony to be successful this generation.

I think the only reason they say that they can't make a definite committment is cuz of the nature of this console war.. they r not sure how many times they need to have a price reduction and how soon MS will go with a price reduction...

If their sales remain good between 200k to 250k till June without requiring a price drop and MS doesn't call for a price drop till then, then i m sure they will go into black... and if they have to call for a price drop around March then may be their plan for going into black will recieve a setback...

 So i don't see it as any threat, rather i find it pretty honest statement... This is a pretty volatile market right now and PS3 has a real big manufacturing cost so even a little movement in the market can have a serious impact on the profitability of the PS3 and winning the console market share is more important than going into the black..

 Just my 2 cents

+1

Until there is actual solid evidence that the PS3 and its production process can generate a product that sells at a profit on the market, these claims don't amount to much in terms of specifics. This could just be any number of PR spins on the situation.

I know that sounds non-specifically fanboyish, but its a simple fact. Sony's top priority is making the PS3 look like something that is worth investing in and will last, and they will say whatever they must and frame the picture however is needed to create the image. Announcements like this are made specifically to seduce investors not gamers.

Hmmm, sounds more like youre tryingdeny the possibility.

I question aswell how the 360 division can achieve profit with the continuate repairs of the broken console they recieve, the extended 3 year warranty, the need to compensate with free games etc. .Such choices should definitely lower the optimal profit for Microsoft's game division aswell, and gain the great profit that some easierly choose to believe.

But hey!... you can chose to believe whatever you want. 

You're right, the RRoD warranty really hurt MS's profitability. Microsoft took a $1 billion hit for extending the warranty to three years.  http://www.news.com/2100-1014_3-6195058.html

That $1 billion will cover repairs and replacements for all RRoD defects.

If Sony was as cheap as Microsoft and charged 80 bucks for online (thats what it is in Canada) Sony would have a lot more money.

Say 1/2 of PS3 owners got online at $80, I think thats fair. That is (8.80/2 = 4.40) 4,400,000 people getting online so: 4.40 million x 80 = 352,000,000 Thats 352 Million dollars. They could easily make a lot of money off of charging for online, so I'm thankful we don't have to pay.

And where did I ever say I believe MS was actually turning a profit either?

Responding to me alone isn't going to make all those other responses with damning information for Sony's finances dissapear either friend.

Wow.

This is scary.

I've heard of Sony losing half of what they made in the whole Playstation era before but seeing it spelled out like this REALLY puts it into perspective. Basically Sony has blown through about 7 out of 13 years of Playstation success in 1 year with the PS3. That's about $7 to 8 billion out of a total of over $14 billion made over THIRTEEN years blown through in ONE year.

That is not good. I am seeing the effects of Pyrrhic Victory all over this. They depended on dominance to pull in those numbers which did not truthfully reflect their market dominance.

The question you have to ask yourself is what will Sony do this year to hold on to what they made in the 13 years of the Playstation era? How are they gonna hold off Microsoft & its building aggression & can they even begin to answer Nintendo on any front or at least slow their tankroll?

I sure don't want to see reports of Sony losing all they made in the 13 years of Playstation at the end of 2008 because that will be simply depressing. And it will bring doom for the future of their games department.

Kaz had better steer this ship clear this year or I'm afraid for the worst.

What you put here Fishy Joe/Rol/Renar really puts it in perspective. Wow man.

John Lucas