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Sony Announces Q1 Results

2013_%2525207_%2525202_20_44.jpg
 

FranXico

Member
This just further drives home the point that not only can Microsoft not afford to lose the US and UK as their main markets, they also need more. If the current pre-order numbers are anything to go by, Microsoft is in for a rude awakening.

Also well deserved.
 
On software R&D costs, PS4 is more advanced than PS3, but costs will depend on 'how dev community works to create good titles for us. So, I cannot comment further than this.'

This confuses me a little bit. Are they referring to investments in exclusive titles ( cost of PS4 games in development, 3rd-party publishing deals ) when speaking about software R&D?

If true, it's definitely a huge positive to hear that Sony is investing more into their PS4 titles than they did back when PS3 launched. ( ... which, was pretty weak for a while. )
 

tfur

Member
Dynopia must be furious right now, lol.

I chuckled. I admit, it was the first thing I though of as well. LOL.

Good to see PS3 on top, as they deserve it with the amount of time and effort their first party developers put into their work.

Also, it was always expected since the PS3 has consistently sold at a faster rate than the 360.
 
Yep, I am not a fan of Sony, but comapred to MS...

I hope MS and the Xbone financially die a painful death while the shareholders march and burn down Redmond.
Why would you want no competition? The reason Sony is in the position it is for the next generation is competition from Microsoft. It makes you better.
 
Yep, I am not a fan of Sony, but comapred to MS...

I hope MS and the Xbone financially die a painful death while the shareholders march and burn down Redmond.

Highly unlikely. The entire purpose of the Xbox console from the beginning was to reinforce the integration of Windows products into the home.

MSFT LTM June 2013 Revenue:
Windows: $19.2 B
Servers and Tools: $20.2B
Online Services: $3.2B
MSFT Business Division: $24.7B
Entertainment (Xbox is part of this): $10.2B
Total w/ Corp: $77.8B

MSFT LTM June Operating Profit:
Windows: $9.5 B
Servers and Tools: $8.2B
Online Services: ($1.2B)
MSFT Business Division: $16.2B
Entertainment (Xbox is part of this): $0.8B
Total w/ Corp: $26.8B

Despite what a lot of fanboys think. The Xbox is not going to ruin MSFT. For them it is a way to enhance the other product lines which actually create value. They will use the cash from the other lines to support getting the Xbox in every home. Sony on the other hand (ex. insurance) is struggling.
 
Why would you want no competition? The reason Sony is in the position it is for the next generation is competition from Microsoft. It makes you better.

I like Nintendo, MS dieing= Nintendo might get some RARE IPs back. Someone would fill void anyways.

MS imo has done nothing good for gaming,

Sony has arguably done good and bad for gaming, so has Nintendo, but what good thing has MS done for gaming?

They killed Rareware, and thats all that matters to me anyways, I wont be buying a PS4 or Vita
 

Shion

Member
I like Nintendo, MS dieing= Nintendo might get some RARE IPs back. Someone would fill void anyways.

MS imo has done nothing good for gaming,

Sony has arguably done good and bad for gaming, so has Nintendo, but what good thing has MS done for gaming?

They killed Rareware, and thats all that matters to me anyways, I wont be buying a PS4 or Vita

XBLA?

Quality online services?

Western games on consoles?
 
XBLA?

Quality online services?

Western games on consoles?

western games would be here anyway, that's not really MS doing. more of a reflection that western studios handled the HD transition better, and Japan is rapidly turning into handheld land.

live and online integration are indisputable though. however "pay for online" is also their fault, so it's not all roses here
 
XBLA?

Quality online services?

Western games on consoles?

Western games were on consoles since 70's so I don't know what you're talking about but agree with online service. PSN will never be as good as it is if there's no XBL. MS really push online service into console this generation and that is a gaming revolution imo.
 
Fast turnaround. Kaz was the smartest thing Sony has ever done.

Entrusting the Playstation division to super nerds might be the second by the time this next gen is over.
 

Shion

Member
western games would be here anyway, that's not really MS doing. more of a reflection that western studios handled the HD transition better, and Japan is rapidly turning into handheld land.
Well, in a way, we always had western games on consoles.

But Microsoft's presence in the market bridged the gap between PCs and consoles and created more room for western games to succeed in the console environment. Games like Elder Scrolls and Fallout began appearing on consoles and so on.

There was not much of a market for western games on consoles prior to the XBOX.

I think that Microsoft's entrance in the market helped them a lot.

ive and online integration are indisputable though. however "pay for online" is also their fault, so it's not all roses here
Definitely.
 

harSon

Banned
Fast turnaround. Kaz was the smartest thing Sony has ever done.

Entrusting the Playstation division to super nerds might be the second by the time this next gen is over.

He deserves credit for weathering the storm, but the weakening of the Yen is a big reason for the turnaround. Aren't struggling Japanese electronics companies (Panasonic, Sharp, Pioneer, etc.) in general having decent turnarounds now that the Yen has finally weakened?

The Playstation 4 has been handeled extremely well though.
 

Road

Member
Strange.

Anyway, I think it's irrelevant here because is unlikely that PS3 shipped more units in FY 2012 than FY 2011. Retail sales data don't indicate that.

I think it was cvxfreak who pointed out the last time the Japanese version said "減収", meaning decreasing in income.

However, for that quarter, it has 販売数量の減少", "decrease in sales volume".

I don't know if it is still used to mean money rather than units in Japanese.
 

Joni

Member
I hope Sony will show us true numbers for PS2, PS3, PSP and Vita some day. Including software numbers.
 
Seems really good to me to be honest, Sony's got a butt ton of employees in those divisions. With some of their dev teams being 120+ people making any profit at all is fantastic. Plus I'm going to assume R&D took a pretty big chunk of that. Good stuff.
 
I think their getting massive confusion on the smartphone lineup however. I wish they'd tone that shit down a bit. How many Experias have launched within the last 2 years?

Honestly, the past year's efforts is where it really shined imo. They're really messaging and emphasising the Z really well.

Previous Xperias were messy, but Z is really laser-focused.
 

FranXico

Member
I like Nintendo, MS dieing= Nintendo might get some RARE IPs back. Someone would fill void anyways.

MS imo has done nothing good for gaming,

Sony has arguably done good and bad for gaming, so has Nintendo, but what good thing has MS done for gaming?

They killed Rareware, and thats all that matters to me anyways, I wont be buying a PS4 or Vita

Online gaming on consoles got tremendously better post XBox. The fact that they compete with Sony is what keeps pushing both of them to improve their services.

If either Sony or Microsoft leave the market, we all lose.
 

FranXico

Member
Honestly, the past year's efforts is where it really shined imo. They're really messaging and emphasising the Z really well.

Previous Xperias were messy, but Z is really laser-focused.

The S (I own one) was their turning point: it's very nice, solidly built, and beats a Galaxy S2 (at the time it came out); nothing to do with the old Sony-Ericsson brand.
 

Paskil

Member
Hey, remember that one WiiU sales thread from yesterday where people kept comparing it to the Vita, sales-wise? Remember that other thread later that showed the Vita sold about 400k more in the same three month period?

Yeah, me neither.
 

Truespeed

Member
I think their getting massive confusion on the smartphone lineup however. I wish they'd tone that shit down a bit. How many Experias have launched within the last 2 years?

I agree. They're running out of alphabet letters to use. Make a high end, mid end and low end phone. That's all you need.
 
I agree. They're running out of alphabet letters to use. Make a high end, mid end and low end phone. That's all you need.

I'd say skip the mid end all together and just really drive the quality up on your devices. I think it's Nucking Futs how hard it is for Sony to orchestrate a world-wide release of their devices.
 
He deserves credit for weathering the storm, but the weakening of the Yen is a big reason for the turnaround. Aren't struggling Japanese electronics companies (Panasonic, Sharp, Pioneer, etc.) in general having decent turnarounds now that the Yen has finally weakened?

The Playstation 4 has been handeled extremely well though.

Good point I think your right about that
 
Yep, I am not a fan of Sony, but comapred to MS...

I hope MS and the Xbone financially die a painful death while the shareholders march and burn down Redmond.

nonsense.

The only reason that Sony is on a roll is because of the competition the MS gave them this gen. Microsoft stole a TON of marketshare from Sony and they want it back. Their current actions are only a means to an end, it has nothing to do with loyalty to their fans.
 
nonsense.

The only reason that Sony is on a roll is because of the competition the MS gave them this gen. Microsoft stole a TON of marketshare from Sony and they want it back. Their current actions are only a means to an end, it has nothing to do with loyalty to their fans.
Depends. If they determined that loyalty to their fans is how they will succeed long term (and all indications right now are that they did), then yes, it has everything to do with that. But that's just PlayStation.

Sony booting our Ericsson was a huge deal, too, though I'm not sure if that happened under Kaz or Stringer. Sony is in a good position in the Android market right now; make some Nexus-like phones light on bloatware and give them Sony styling, and there you have a phone that people will actually want to buy. I'd get an Xperia Z right now if there were a Verizon version.

EDIT: Side conspiracy theory: Regarding how little information is being leaked regarding PS4, I wonder if they intentionally "leaked" all the PS3 and Vita as a red-herring to throw people off the trail.
 

Road

Member
From the conference call.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/159...arnings-call-transcript?page=4&p=qanda&l=last

Okay. Now relating to the ForEx situation. [...] At the last earnings call, I did say that the weakening of the yen, overall, would benefit the company. We report in yen, okay, that has not changed. But at the same time, I said as far as the U.S. dollar is concerned, we have a loss of manufacturing base in dollar-related costs. We have moved a lot of our manufacturing offshore, out of Japan, which -- where costs are related to the dollar. So when the yen weakens, the cost of goods will go up. So on an overall annual basis, the weakening of the yen against the dollar would be a negative hit to our bottom line.[...] For example, Gaming. Since most of the manufacturing in these segments are offshore, the impact is negative and I have to admit that although we are taking various measures to improve the situation, for example, the hit to the bottom line on the Gaming business, I have to say, for the full year, would be a negative impact.

The comparison between the 2 platforms, PlayStation3 and PlayStation4, I think they are -- one big difference is in the amount of investment that we are making in the platform. PS3 was, at that time, the leading-edge product. We developed the LFIs, the CPU and the GPU, from the ground up, working together with our partners in Toshiba and IBM. We spent millions -- hundreds of millions of dollars in designing the chipset. We spent billions of dollars in semiconductor fabrication technology as well as fabrication capacity, building plants, acquiring equipment to fabricate semiconductor. The reason why we did this was there was no chipset around to meet our requirements. There were no manufacturing capacity or technology to manufacture the chipset. So the amount of investment that went into PS3 was quite big. Now PS4, in contrast, is a much more lighter platform in terms of investment because as for the chipset, at the core, we are taking off-the-shelf technology available and we are putting our proprietary technology around that core chipset. So the amount of investment is much, much smaller. In terms of manufacturing, this time, we are totally fabless, meaning that we are relying on our foundries or semiconductor manufacturing companies to supply it for us.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/159...arnings-call-transcript?page=6&p=qanda&l=last
First, about the Game business, the breakdown of the P&L. And I'd like to refrain from citing specific numbers in the -- a further breakdown. But theoretically, as you might know very well and would not need an explanation, but compared to the same period the previous year, PS3 number declined and software business increased. And PSP continues the decline. And PS Vita, as you know, are not performing that well. And PS2 ceased to exist. So top line difference would be there. In R&D cost, I cannot cite any specific numbers. But in terms of the substance, the software development, we have first-party software development, and prior to the actual launch, the expenditure increases for first-party software development. And also, the development tools or the support to third-party developers, that would be included in the cost of development and the increase prior to launch. As we have been saying that -- we have not incurred a tremendous amount of investment for semiconductor development or the development of semiconductor to come up with chipset. We did not make a sizable investment there. Well, partially, there has been some development of chipset. But in terms of the weight of investment, PS4 is a much lighter platform compared to PS3.
 
In R&D cost, I cannot cite any specific numbers. But in terms of the substance, the software development, we have first-party software development, and prior to the actual launch, the expenditure increases for first-party software development. And also, the development tools or the support to third-party developers, that would be included in the cost of development and the increase prior to launch. As we have been saying that -- we have not incurred a tremendous amount of investment for semiconductor development or the development of semiconductor to come up with chipset. We did not make a sizable investment there.
That's interesting. Most of their investment with the PS4 has been with software rather than hardware (or at least that's what they seem to be saying).
 
XBLA?

Quality online services?

Western games on consoles?

Western Games on consoles = Dont Care About

Quality online services = Paywalls

Anyways, if you read any financial articles on MS, many shareholders are really sick of the xbox and view it as the week link of MS.

If it flops in the beginning aka Windows 8, investors will be ******

Also, many financial people seem to think that MS may focus on the core
 
That's interesting. Most of their investment with the PS4 has been with software rather than hardware (or at least that's what they seem to be saying).

Indeed it does. But I wonder why the executive wouldn't answer the supplemental question about whether the Game division would have been profitable without PS4 development costs.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/159...-2013-results-earnings-call-transcript?page=6

Kota Ezawa - Citigroup Inc, Research Division
And a further supplementation, if you could. Do you say the development cost for PS4 is not that much? But on a quarterly basis, the deficit is about JPY 15 billion. And the PlayStation3 softwares are still selling. So without the recording of the cost of development, the Game business would have registered a solid profit. Can you say that?

Unknown Executive

Well, I would like to refrain from going into any other details. Thank you. [Japanese] Next question, please? So on this side, on this part, the first line in the middle.

This leads me to believe that PS3 + Vita overall performance is such that the PS4 is absolutely necessary at this point in time.
 
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