Sony Games Division Losses Up

Sony's games division losses for the most recent financial quarter have nearly doubled compared to the same period last year.

The losses posted for the quarter ending September 30th were 96.7 billion yen / £411 million), compared to 53.2 billion yen (£226 million) for the same period in 2006.

A statement from Sony reads, “In the game segment, operating loss increased primarily due to the loss arising from strategic pricing of PS3 at points lower than its production cost and the increase in PS3-related inventory write-downs recorded during the current quarter compared to the same quarter of the previous year.”

This marks the seventh consecutive quarter for which Sony's games division has posted a loss.

In that quarter Sony sold 1.31 million PS3s globally and 10.3 million games for the system. That compares to Nintendo selling 3.9 million Wiis in the same period. Sony also shifted 3.28 million PS2s and 38 million games for the system, with the company moving 2.58 million PSPs and 12.6 million games.

While things don't look too rosy financially for Sony's games division, things for the company as a whole don't look so grim. Strong sales of LCD TVs and cameras resulted in the company posting an operating profit of 90.5 billion yen (£385 million), compared to a loss of 20.83 billion yen (£88.6 million) loss in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, Nintendo has just raised its annual profits forecast following strong sales for the first half of the fiscal year.