Sony Corp.'s consolidated financial results for the fiscal quarter ending September 30th saw the company as whole post revenue of ¥1.66 trillion ($18.5 billion USD), and a ¥32.6 billion ($356 million USD) operating loss.  Cost-cutting all around helped Sony weather the storm of a stronger yen and declining television and camera sales, though it couldn't escape loss for the fourth consecutive quarter.

Unfortunately, the company confirmed that its "Networked Products & Services" division covering its PlayStation, VAIO PC, and Walkman businesses also continued to lose money during the second quarter. The Networked Products & Services division reported revenue of ¥352.6 billion ($3.92 million USD) for the six month period, a 24.2 percent year-on-year decrease.  Profitability continues to elude the division, as operating losses grew year-on-year to ¥58.8 billion ($654 million USD).

Currency appreciation of the Japanese Yen plus shrinking PlayStation 2 hardware and software sales both played their part in reducing Sony Computer Entertainment's quarterly revenue and chances at profit.  PS2 hardware sales dropped from 2.5 million units reported during the second quarter of its last financial year to 1.9 million units.  PlayStation Portable sales similarly decreased from 3.2 million to 3 million units.

On the bright side, quarterly PS3 hardware sales jumped from 2.4 million to 3.2 million units.  The launch of newer and cheaper PS3 slim likely helped out quite a bit.  Furthermore, Sony CFO Nobuyuki Oneda confirmed that associated costs for the PS3 are now only around 10 percent higher than its revenue.  This difference could further shrink in the coming months, eventually leading to actual PS3 profitability for SCE.