http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/financial/fr/06q4_sony.pdf

Gaming Highlights

Fiscal year loss 232.3 billion yen ($1.969 billion)

Sales increased 6.1% from previous year. Software sales decreased from previous year.

Hardware production shipments

PS2 14.2 million units -2.02 million units

PSP 8.36 million units -5.7 million units

PS3 5.5 million units

Software production shipments

PS2 193 million units -30 million units

PSP 54.1 million units +12.5 million units

PS3 13.2 million units

Inventory 3/31 198.8 billion yen ($1.685 billion) +78.4% from previous year

Inventory increase 95.6 billion yen or 92.6% from Q3 to Q4

The deterioration was primarily the result of the loss arising from the sale of PS3 at strategic price points lower than its production cost during the introductory period, as well as the recording of other charges in association with preparation for the launch of the PS3 platform. In addition, operating income from the PS2 business declined due to decrease in software sales, while opeating income from the PSP business increased primarily due to continued cost reductions in hardware production.

Here's an article about the rest:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aFVN3lkpajWk&refer=home

Sony Posts Biggest Loss in Four Years on PS3 Consoles (Update1)

By Hiroshi Suzuki

May 16 (Bloomberg) -- Sony Corp., the world's second-largest consumer electronics maker, reported its biggest loss in four years after the PlayStation 3 game console failed to spur as much demand as Nintendo Co.'s Wii player.

The net loss totaled 67.6 billion yen ($562 million) in the three months ended March 31, from 66.5 billion yen a year earlier, Tokyo-based Sony said in a statement today. The company posted a 111.1 billion yen loss in the quarter ended March 2003.

PlayStation 3 is being outsold by Wii by about two to one, causing a loss at Sony's game division, its second-largest by revenue. The loss exceeded profits from electronics such as Bravia televisions, and the movie unit, whose ``Spider-Man 3'' generated record box-office sales when it opened this month.

``The extent of the recovery in the game business will be the main theme this fiscal year,'' Naoki Fujiwara, who oversees $720 million at Shinkin Asset Management Co. in Tokyo, said before the earnings announcement.

For the year ending March 2008, Sony forecasts net income of 320 billion yen, more than double the 126.3 billion yen for the year just ended, on sales of Bravia liquid-crystal display televisions and a narrower loss at the games division.

Sales for the quarter rose 13 percent to 2.09 trillion yen. Its operating loss, or sales minus the cost of goods sold and administrative expenses, widened to 113.4 billion yen from a 62.2 billion yen loss a year earlier.

The earnings compare with estimates for a net loss of 75.8 billion yen on sales of 2.02 trillion yen, based on a Bloomberg survey on 11 analysts prior to the announcement. 

What I find interesting: - overall group (operating) income down almost 70% - net income from affiliated companies up 500% (i.e. Sony Ericsson, Sony BMG, etc..) Guess the games division was dragging down the rest of Sony, while the other companies remain highly profitable. No forecasts (yet?) for console shipments for FY2008.

The other divisions were dragging Sony down while the games division supported it. This is a big turnaround. They are eyeing a return to around break even for the current year, though how fast they can drop costs may be the biggest factor.

Shipment forecast is 11 million, so they're pretty much expecting to remain third through the end of the year.

Oh, here we go. Sony have finally posted their Earnings Announcement for Jan-Mar 2007. Losses as expected at $2 billion, but not above $2 billion. That's great. That way they didn't break my mini-chart:

During this quarter alone their inventory increased by $800 million. If most of these goods are PS3, they have at least 1 million unsold PS3 sitting at Sony warehouses.

So they have officially admitted that they didn't meet the "6 million shipped PS3 by the end of March" objective, standing only at 5.5. I guess their tune will now change to "we came in at more than 90% of our shipping estimates" or something similar...

So there's something like 2.5M PS3's sitting on shelves or on retailer warehouses now apparently, even less than the 360's in the channels atm.

DKII,

I don't think these units are necessarily at retailers yet. Sony is counting "shipped" as "left our factory". It does not mean "sold to retail" in any way. But, from looking around I share the impression that retailers are well stocked, and they have managed to crank out almost 6 million units, which is certainly a technical achievement.