Sony's PlayStation business has posted a notable drop in sales and operating income for the financial year ended March 31.
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PlayStation unit sales fell by about 12 per cent year-on-year to £4.6 billion ($7bn), largely due to softening demand for PS3 and PSP, as well as its underperforming Vita business.
This led to a fall in operating income by about £180m ($280m), ending up at £11 million ($17m). Sony said the significant drop was primarily due to the handheld business, citing PSP decline and February's Vita price cut in Japan.
Sony sold 16.5 million PS3s and PS2s during the financial year, down by about 1.5 million units compared to last year. Meanwhile the corporation sold 154 million home console games, down from 164.5 million.
Annual Vita and PSP unit sales totalled seven million, slightly up on last year, though portable software sales declined from 32.2 million to 28.8 million.
For the year ahead, Sony expects its PlayStation business sales to "increase significantly" due to the PS4 release. Operating income is expected to be essentially flat due to an increase in PS4 R&D; and marketing expenses.
Sony revealed its PS4 in February, when it confirmed a PS4 release date of "holiday 2013".
Today, the company published annual PlayStation hardware sales forecasts for the current business year, which include an expected decline in the adoption of its portable systems.
Kaz Hirai is among 40 management executives at the company who will surrender their bonuses - worth up to 50 per cent of their salary - after the firm's consumer electronics business failed to turn an annual profit.
