Sony Q1 Report: The Playstation Money Machine

Published: July 31, 2015 2:00 PM /

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Sony PlayStation Hacking

Sony had a solid start to the 2016 fiscal year, reporting a $780 million profit for Q1 2015.

The financial results released by the company showed that most of the success for Sony this quarter is attributed to the Playstation 4 and their camera sensor business ventures. These two departments combined pushed Sony past analyst expectations, allowing the company to ht a 39% increase in profit.

The games division had a 12% increase in sales, and operating income increased to ¥19.5 billion ($160 million) during the quarter. The Playstation 4 shipped 3 million units during the quarter, bring their total units sold to 25.3 million. Software and peripheral sales were also increasing for the system, while the Playstation 3's sales continued to decline, if at a slower rate than expected.

It is interesting to note that some of the operating income Sony generated comes from insurance recoveries from the 2012 PSN hack. According to the report, Sony earned ¥4.2 billion, or $39 million from the cyberattack that hit them in March of 2012.

In total, Sony is predicting that the Playstation 4 will hit close to 39 million units by the end of the fiscal year.

The biggest net loser for Sony during this quarter came from their movie division, Sony Pictures, which posted a staggering  ¥11.7 billion ($95 million) loss. The result is a 26% decrease for that arm of the company.

Other parts of Sony have seen major net gains and losses. Most of them are due to their corporate restructuring back in February, shifting focus on entertainment and a four year plan to get back on track by 2018. As a result, other departments in Sony saw major and minor successes across the board; including an increase of 16% for their camera devices and sensors.

Despite the healthy report, net revenue took a 0.1% loss, earning only ¥1,808.1 billion ($14.5 billion) for the quarter.

So is Sony on the right track? Will they be able to recover fully? Leave your comments below.

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| Staff Writer

A longtime player of games, creator of worlds, and teacher of minds. Robert has worked many positions over the years, from college professor to education… More about Robert