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Sony FY12: $400M Net Income; PS3/PS2 16.5M; Vita/PSP 5M forecast

driver116

Member
Just having a more detailed look. The US is where Sony are really underperforming. In Japan, Europe, Asia and Africa/Other sales are up. In China sales are down, but that's down to the anti-Japan protests, before that sales were up by around 10%. In the US sales are down 12%.

I think that's why there is such a separation in the world right now, a lot of the US based media see Sony as an ailing company while in the rest of the world Sony is actually doing pretty well, with decent sales growth and a desirable product line up. I'm not sure what is causing this, it could be very aggressive consumer demand for cheap products which has left Sony unable to compete with the likes of Samsung or it could be Sony's lack of investment in marketing which has seen the brand fall behind Apple. Either way Kaz needs to dump this idiotic policy of ignoring the US division's problems right now and concentrate on getting them competitive again. Sony can't afford to fall behind in the world's single largest consumer market.

Kaz has already stated that the US as the third most profitable market for Sony behind Japan and Europe. His focus is to strengthen Japan, then expand Europe, then finally the US. This is in terms of hardware. The US makes Sony a LOT of profit from Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment.
 

Road

Member
GAME:

Sales decreased 12.2% year-on-year (a 15% decrease on a constant currency basis) to 707.1 billion yen (7,522
million U.S. dollars). Sales to external customers decreased 22.5% year-on-year. This significant decrease was
primarily due to a decrease in unit sales of PlayStation®3 (“PS3”) hardware and PSP® (PlayStation Portable)
(“PSP”) hardware and software, as well as PlayStation®Vita (“PS Vita”) hardware, partially offset by the favorable
impact of foreign exchange rates.
Operating income decreased 27.6 billion yen year-on-year to 1.7 billion yen (18 million U.S. dollars). This
significant decrease was primarily due to the above-mentioned decrease in sales of PSP hardware and software as
well as the impact of a strategic price reduction for the PS Vita, enacted in Japan in February 2013

Does that mean Sony shipped less than 1.8 million Vita hardware units this FY?

Thus, making its LTD less than 3.6 million?

(LTD was 1.8 million in the previous fiscal year)
 
The smartphone sales in Q4FY12 are pretty bad (only up 16%) and they missed the 34 million forecast for the whole year by a million. Xperia Z doesn't do shit.

It's actually because they didn't have a decent mid-range offering from sell through data. Last time they had the Arc S which was cheap. This time they had the T/TX and V, none of which were particularly good devices or very well received by reviewers and the cost was way higher than Arc S. The Xperia P was also discontinued too early and that was a fairly decent seller.

Xperia Z and Xperia J accounted for most of Sony's sales in the quarter just reported, the mix in last year's quarter was much more varied and it helped that Xperia S was only £399/€449 instead of £529/€599 and they were able to keep it in stock. The current quarter will be interesting because they just started shipping Xperia SP and L both of which are pretty strong mid-range phones where Sony has historically done very well and Z/ZL shipments should be decent also.
 

driver116

Member
How about no.

I don't know, if you look at the legs of the PS2, and especially with prices drops etc. 10 years would give it until 2016/17.

It's actually because they didn't have a decent mid-range offering from sell through data. Last time they had the Arc S which was cheap. This time they had the T/TX and V, none of which were particularly good devices or very well received by reviewers and the cost was way higher than Arc S. The Xperia P was also discontinued too early and that was a fairly decent seller.

Xperia Z and Xperia J accounted for most of Sony's sales in the quarter just reported, the mix in last year's quarter was much more varied and it helped that Xperia S was only £399/€449 instead of £529/€599 and they were able to keep it in stock. The current quarter will be interesting because they just started shipping Xperia SP and L both of which are pretty strong mid-range phones where Sony has historically done very well and Z/ZL shipments should be decent also.

Plus the Z only went on sale in February this year.
 

ascii42

Member
I don't know, if you look at the legs of the PS2, and especially with prices drops etc. 10 years would give it until 2016/17.



Plus the Z only went on sale in February this year.

Yeah. The 360 may have legs as well, but it only really does well in the US and UK, so it'll reach market saturation before the PS3 does.
 
I never saw anyone serious saying that Sony was losing access to the capital markets. The question is, how favorable of an interest rate can they negotiate.

2.1% for the year. $280m interest paid on $13bn

I would say pretty good...
 
The 10 million PS3 FCT for the year AND the game division's operating income FCT of being flat YOY suggests to me that there will be no price drop this year. Sony will keep the PS3 price at $249 and ride out on high profit margins to offset the money they will lose with each PS4 sold. There will probably be a PS3 price drop next year, if I had to guess.
Sounds plausible, making a lot of this "second place" talk relatively moot - as I expect MS to cut their price this year.
Does that mean Sony shipped less than 1.8 million Vita hardware units this FY?

Thus, making its LTD less than 3.6 million?

(LTD was 1.8 million in the previous fiscal year)
I don't think that's what it means - since they also state PSP decreased Y/Y?

EDIT: Oh wait, I forgot PSV wasn't included in FY11. Hmm. Possible?
 

Duxxy3

Member
Vita sold better in the last quarter.

So can we get that price drop that japan got months ago yet??
 

Cornbread78

Member
OK, so outside of the gaming side....

They really need to fix their TV sales and consumer electronics division. Everyone can remember when anything Sony was golden on the market, but now, not so much.... They let Samsung, LG and Vizio get way too far in their jock and they were not ready to handle it. They need to reinvigorate that home electronics team and start a clear marketing campaign, especially in the US. I mean, 4K is great, but that is not going to push sales. They need to put themselves on teh market as a "premium" product with an affordable price. They have not done that and have been completely swallowed up by the Korean TV makers....


Get it together men....
 
Not possible. Sony reported 2.2m Vita sold as of June 30, 2012 (Q1). That mean they sold 5.6m Vita/PSP in the last 3 Qs. Vita LTD being 3.6m means that the Vita sold only 1.4m in the last 3 Qs, it sold more than that in Japan alone.
Part of that 2.2M was the launch shipments and Japanese shipments for FY11, that for some reason are omitted from details about FY11.
 

spwolf

Member
Wow is that true?

That's not good for sure. There are PS4 costs wrapped in there too as well.

Maybe a better comparison would be FY13 once that wraps up.

net income after taxes, yes... operating income was $2.5 billion actually.
Sony pays a lot of taxes, Its weird tax situation, I dont understand it, maybe zomgbbqftw can.
 
Sounds plausible, making a lot of this "second place" talk relatively moot - as I expect MS to cut their price this year.

Still won't be enough for 360 to take back the place. Also, I would be surprised if a $199 PS3 doesn't show up around the time of Gamescom. There is a lot of evidence mounting that Sony/IBM have been working on smaller chips for PS3 so they will have cost reductions available to ensure they don't eat into margins.
 

Road

Member
Not possible. Sony reported 2.2m Vita sold as of June 30, 2012 (Q1). That mean they sold 5.6m Vita/PSP in the last 3 Qs. Vita LTD being 3.6m means that the Vita sold only 1.4m in the last 3 Qs, it sold more than that in Japan alone.

The 2.2 million was a LTD figure and includes the 1.8 million in the FY11 Q3 and Q4.

What it means is that Sony shipped only 0.4 million Vita in FY12 Q1. We don't know FY12 Q2, Q3 and Q4.
 
Not possible. Sony reported 2.2m Vita sold as of June 30, 2012 (Q1). That mean they sold 5.6m Vita/PSP in the last 3 Qs. Vita LTD being 3.6m means that the Vita sold only 1.4m in the last 3 Qs, it sold more than that in Japan alone.

From July 2012 to March 2013, Vita sold around 700k units in Japan.
 

Duxxy3

Member
A price drop will probably come when the next big game comes.

Uncharted is still the best reason in the west to own a vita (and for the foreseeable future).

Bundle uncharted with PSN+, a memory and price it at $199 or $179 and the sales will come.

edit: just remembered that uncharted comes with PSN+. So just throw a 6 month or 1 year PSN+ card with a memory card and sell it for $179.
 
Companies that are healthy dont try to obfuscate their numbers. They don't suddenly start combining product lines for reporting purposes, they don't stick a bunch of asset sales into operating profits, etc. "fool people" is as good a term as any.

Why does Microsoft obfuscate the revenue and operating costs from Xbox Live by lumping the whole console business in a division notorious for significant losses elsewhere?
 

Road

Member
So x360 is officially 3rd in ww sales since SONY discontinued production of ps2 in Jan 2013

Sony stopped production, but they probably still had units to sell.

The big shipment this quarter for PS2+PS3 probably includes them selling away the remaining PS2 stock.
 

Shayan

Banned
Sony stopped production, but they probably still had units to sell.

The big shipment this quarter for PS2+PS3 probably includes them selling away the remaining PS2 stock.

even if they had units it wont sell half of 3.4m ..perhaps 500k out of that total max, since no one wants a ps2

even by generous estimates ps3 sold close to 2.5m last quarter, taking it above x360 in global sales

EDIT : their profit margins could be higher . They have actually written off some profit as deferred R&D costs. clever SONY
 

DarkMehm

Member
Does that mean Sony shipped less than 1.8 million Vita hardware units this FY?

Thus, making its LTD less than 3.6 million?

(LTD was 1.8 million in the previous fiscal year)

This shouldn't be possible. It's right at or over 1m in all the three big regions. (US, Europe and Japan). That alone guarantees at least 3.5 million sold. Then there is the rest of the world and a big chunk of Europe is also left out of Nintendos quarterly figures. I estimate the sell-through for Vita at around 4.2-4.4 million, so shipments must be at around 5 million.

From the 2012 sales thread:

PSV 1,164,000 (13 countries of Europe) 690,839 (J) 1,280,000 (US) 3,135,000

and thats from 2012 alone.
 

jcm

Member
Why does Microsoft obfuscate the revenue and operating costs from Xbox Live by lumping the whole console business in a division notorious for significant losses elsewhere?

Because nobody cares about anything other than windows and office. When you own two golden geese no one gives a shit about your other pets. They just want to know whether the geese are healthy.
 
OK, so the software forecast for 2013/14 includes downloaded software. Done by sales volume. Explains the increase in the software forecast.

Confirms that smartphone shortfalls come from non Xperia Z models. That matches up with the sell through data.
 

Dragon

Banned
OK, so the software forecast for 2013/14 includes downloaded software. Done by sales volume. Explains the increase in the software forecast.

I'm assuming it'll be that way going forward.

Also has NDP started including downloaded software? Doubtful considering the problems inherent there.
 

Shayan

Banned
Because nobody cares about anything other than windows and office. When you own two golden geese no one gives a shit about your other pets. They just want to know whether the geese are healthy.

but in a few years when PC meets its demise, MS would have to care about other pets . Windows dies with PC and in smartphone and tablet arena , unless MS has the lamp of Aladdin , there is no light at the end of those tunnels
 

jcm

Member
I'm assuming it'll be that way going forward.

Also has NDP started including downloaded software? Doubtful considering the problems inherent there.

No. Npd does a separate report on digital sales via Nielsen-like end user surveys.

but in a few years when PC meets its demise, MS would have to care about other pets . Windows dies with PC and in smartphone and tablet arena , unless MS has the lamp of Aladdin , there is no light at the end of those tunnels
That would surely get msft investors' attention.
 
Wow, surprised at that operating income drop. I understand sales are down a bit, but there has to be some other major cost at play, my guess is ps4 R&D and production ramp up.
 
Blames Win8 for falling PC sales and losses in Vaio division.

Smartphone losses - spent money on turning business around, losses are done, costs money to integrate Sony product into phones and product development. That is done, so next year it won't be a problem. They spent a lot of money on marketing and building a supply chain and reducing the headcount.

Smartphones are going to be profitable for the current year.

TV sales going up. Saying 2013 was a poor year but LCD income deteriorated so much so they slimmed down in 2013. In 2011/12 they lost money on every single TV model sold. :O

TV line up reduced to ensure unit profitability. Losses reduced by half. New cost structure for profitability, driven by better products. Answer seems muddled tbh.
 

Road

Member
even if they had units it wont sell half of 3.4m ..perhaps 500k out of that total max, since no one wants a ps2

even by generous estimates ps3 sold close to 2.5m last quarter, taking it above x360 in global sales

EDIT : their profit margins could be higher . They have actually written off some profit as deferred R&D costs. clever SONY

2.5m shipped last quarter would mean the best yet for the PS3, which doesn't make sense when sales to consumers in Europe, Japan and US are below the past couple of years. My guess is Sony sold all the remaining PS2 stock for little to no money.

This shouldn't be possible. It's right at or over 1m in all the three big regions. (US, Europe and Japan). That alone guarantees at least 3.5 million sold. Then there is the rest of the world and a big chunk of Europe is also left out of Nintendos quarterly figures. I estimate the sell-through for Vita at around 4.2-4.4 million, so shipments must be at around 5 million.

From the 2012 sales thread:

PSV 1,164,000 (13 countries of Europe) 690,839 (J) 1,280,000 (US) 3,135,000

and thats from 2012 alone.

Well, it doesn't match the sold to consumers figures, but we have to keep in mind that: 1) those are estimates; 2) the numbers for Europe are Nintendo's estimates on top of the sales tracker estimates.

It's very much possible Nintendo has been overestimating Vita sales in Europe.
 
5M Vita/PSP forecast is basically the first real admission from Sony of what's been obvious to most of us for some time: that Vita's current sales situation isn't salvageable. I expect them to act accordingly.

Don't expect much time to be spent on Vita at the E3 press conference; don't expect a wave of major software announcements at E3, Gamescom, or TGS; don't expect that big a marketing push for Killzone or Tearaway; and don't expect SCE to put any real effort into pushing Vita as a PS4 accessory.

I don't even think an NA/EU price cut is a sure thing anymore, though it's still more likely than not.

Also, looks like Sony has scheduled their corporate strategy meeting for the 22nd. Possibly more details about their plans for specific game platforms there.
 
CAPEX reduced on manufacturing and assembly. Good.

R&D streamlined to better areas. Less wasteful than in the past, concentrate resources to a few key areas, three pillars mentioned.

Increase R&D for gaming is specifically for development of software for PS4.
 

Shayan

Banned
2.5m shipped last quarter would mean the best yet for the PS3, which doesn't make sense when sales to consumers in Europe, Japan and US are below the past couple of years. My guess is Sony sold all the remaining PS2 stock for little to no money.


It's very much possible Nintendo has been overestimating Vita sales in Europe.

where do you see sales falling across europe? As for Nintendo's data, thats an internal estimate based only on 13 PAL regions. Sales have fallen only in US but SONY has also found some emerging markets . x360 sales from q1 '12 fell just 10% although it sells just in USA. It means sales might have risen in emerging markets for both consoles

With PS3, you can expect a higher than expected sales, since unlike x360, it sells all across the globe. No need to tweak those numbers. SONY sold close to 2.5m ps3s at the least. SONY discontinued the production of ps2s last Jan
 

saichi

Member
Not possible. Sony reported 2.2m Vita sold as of June 30, 2012 (Q1). That mean they sold 5.6m Vita/PSP in the last 3 Qs. Vita LTD being 3.6m means that the Vita sold only 1.4m in the last 3 Qs, it sold more than that in Japan alone.

you are joking, right?

EDIT: beaten

2.5m shipped last quarter would mean the best yet for the PS3, which doesn't make sense when sales to consumers in Europe, Japan and US are below the past couple of years. My guess is Sony sold all the remaining PS2 stock for little to no money.

According to this thread, PS3 is selling truck loads in the "emerging market" so it doesn't matter the sale numbers declined in Europe, Japan and US.
 
Reiterates wait and see approach for US smartphone market. No entrance into the US market this fiscal year. Wow. So much for the H2 flagship being available on all carriers in the US.
 

DarkMehm

Member
2.5m shipped last quarter would mean the best yet for the PS3, which doesn't make sense when sales to consumers in Europe, Japan and US are below the past couple of years. My guess is Sony sold all the remaining PS2 stock for little to no money.



Well, it doesn't match the sold to consumers figures, but we have to keep in mind that: 1) those are estimates; 2) the numbers for Europe are Nintendo's estimates on top of the sales tracker estimates.

It's very much possible Nintendo has been overestimating Vita sales in Europe.

Let's assume Nintendo was 100% incorrect and Vita sold 0 units so far in Europe:

US: 1.28 in 2012 according to NPD +~100k this year so far = 1.38 million
Japan: 1.5 million

Total of two countries: 2.88 million. That's without Canada, whole of Europe, Australia, Asia, South America, Central America, Middle East and so on.

Still unsure about this? It definetly has sold more than 3.6 million, so it definetly shipped a lot more than that.

Sales-Agers rely too much on three regions here. The truth especially for Sony systems is, that they are really selling well outside of these regions. It could be very much possible that the PS3 has seen growth in countries like Mexico (which is not that of a small market), Eastern Europe, Russia, Middle East (again not small if lumped together), Asia and South America (really huge if lumped together).
 

Shayan

Banned
Reiterates wait and see approach for US smartphone market. No entrance into the US market this fiscal year. Wow. So much for the H2 flagship being available on all carriers in the US.

I expect Xperia Z to be very successful. It wont replace iphones/sammys but it would be successful
 
Reiterates wait and see approach for US smartphone market. No entrance into the US market this fiscal year. Wow. So much for the H2 flagship being available on all carriers in the US.

Yeah they're repeating what has been said previously, strengthen marketshare in Japan and Europe, then focus on America later.
 
1 yen movement against the Dollar is 3bn yen negative operating impact. 6bn yen positive operating impact for the Euro.

High level of fixed dollar costs in outsourced manufacturing causes this. They have always said they are dollar neutral overall so that's not anything new.
 

Averon

Member
Reiterates wait and see approach for US smartphone market. No entrance into the US market this fiscal year. Wow. So much for the H2 flagship being available on all carriers in the US.

This makes no sense. Leaving such a huge market to Samsung and HTC is idiotic.
 
5M Vita/PSP forecast is basically the first real admission from Sony of what's been obvious to most of us for some time: that Vita's current sales situation isn't salvageable. I expect them to act accordingly.

Don't expect much time to be spent on Vita at the E3 press conference; don't expect a wave of major software announcements at E3, Gamescom, or TGS; don't expect that big a marketing push for Killzone or Tearaway; and don't expect SCE to put any real effort into pushing Vita as a PS4 accessory.

yeah, the vita is dead. the ps4 has more hype than the vita ever had, and from the looks of it, 1st and 3rd party support too. and if you look at the ps3, it has a lot more planned out for this year than the vita.
to me, they should have never released the vita and focused all their efforts on home consoles.
 

spwolf

Member
Reiterates wait and see approach for US smartphone market. No entrance into the US market this fiscal year. Wow. So much for the H2 flagship being available on all carriers in the US.

basically he said they will not make major push and resource investment, but doesn't mean that they wont do anything at all.
 
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