This was expected... why are people blowing this out of porportion... oh wait... its the usual suspects.

People need to realize the Sony has been manufacturing the Go and slim for a while with no returns... now they are getting returns on those items... common sense tells us there will be a loss. I mean, even without the price drop on the fat models a transition is already expensive. If they are still losing money Q1 '10 then you can troll.

Slim was a good idea. It dropped their manufacturing costs and increased their marketshare. The price-drop is really what is hurting them now because it is preventing them from making a profit per unit still (I believe). By the end of next year they should be making a profit per unit though and with software sales they should hit profitability on the overall Playstation brand again mid next year. So yeah, I expect a profit from the Playstation brand in Q4.

However considering the amount lost on the PS3 I think they might change from a loss leading strategy next time around.

Edit: @Everyone saying it due to the costs of manufacturing the Slim and Go. When manufacturing these they slowed down the manufacturing of the Phat and 3000 I think. Considering the Slim would cost significantly less per unit than the Phat to manufacture I don't think that is a valid excuse - especially since both of those were launched and sold to retailers during Q2 meaning that the manufacturing costs can't really be to blame.

R&D costs perhaps, but I expect R&D costs are a fairly constant thing mid-generation for Sony.

"It only does everything...except generate profits."

ROFLOL!

Thank you for the correction.

So yet still Sony is a badly run company. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt by saying most of this is by trying to get rid of the dog ugly PS3 uglies before the slim was put out. Having said this that the new 12MP phone isnt too hot although it is being advertised heavily on TV here (AND PLEASE NOTE PEOPLE IT SAYS SEQUENCED SHORTENED ON THE AD AND BOY HAVE THEY SHORTENED THEM DONT BE FOOLED!) as a close look Ipod killer (it isnt)
So advertsiing isnt their strongest area somewhere they need to sack all the PR guys they already have and bring some new life in there. I mean lets face it to catch the imagination you get somebody the public seem to love and respect from TV a little like Nintendo have done with Ant & Dec it's a no brainer of a Nintendo Christmas in the UK. If you dont know who they are it doesnt matter they are probably bigger between the women and kids althought lots of guys find them funny too! Sony need more thought into their PR instead of spending millions upon millions on what will be more for the Ads than what revenue they get for their products. It's just so strange why they cant look up the road at that little hut (comapared to the size of the Sony building) that employs just 300 people and say to themselves "how do they do it" although again I give them credit again they do seem to have realized that the world does exists outside the clocking out machine and yonder. Maybe just one day maybe they will but at this rate of results they'll be looking at selling off other parts of the company. No matter how big the company is they can still fall just makes the impact larger. Sony ARE NOT imune!

I'm sorry, did you SEE the Q2 earnings report?

I think the biggest difference is that they still profit as a company overall.  So they can take bigger chances.  

Microsofts initial xbox 1 loss was just an investment.  They knew it wouldn't be profitable and used that platform as a springboard into the industry.

I can't speak for Heruamon, but I don't applaud such foolishness but I did think it was damnd funny. :P

Reasonable news -- still i expect the PS4 to be built and sold at "break even" point, and i also expect it will be a modest upgrade hardware-wise to the current PS3.

The PS3 for SONY has been a huge liability financially, due to the financial crisis and poor cost planning. As such i wouldn't be surprised to see SONY endure the PS3 now, in order to regain a little market share and then aim for profitability next gen. (And hopefully next gen will see console manufactures give up selling consoles at massive losses, since the risks are too great and it leads to issues such as overpriced (market-wise) hardware eg. PS3/PSP Go/DSi XL)

leave it dude

the LOSSES from SONY were FAR below what Reuters analysts expected

but ofcourse some Vg chartz members are more knowledgable & intelligent than reuters aren't they, & according to them these financials were a disaster for SONY, even though analysts around the net said they were much better than expected.

I would much rather see the companies take a small loss on each console than me have to pay for it.   Who in their right mind would want to pay more for anything?  I do understand the need for the console manufacturer to make a profit however.  

There is nothing wrong with Sony/Microsoft to lose some money on each console sold.  They just can't go insane like Sony did this generation.  Microsoft would be fine right now if not for the RROD problem that arose, and they lost money on each 360 at the start.