Sony expects worsening handheld business

Sony has published annual hardware sales forecasts for the current business year ending March 31 2014.

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The company said today it expects to record a combined total of just five million Vita and PSP sales during the period. That compares unfavourably to seven million Vita and PSP sales reported today for the business year ended April 2013, a figure that fell well short of the 16 million units Sony initially forecast last May.

In comparison, Nintendo said last month that it expects to reports 18 million 3DS sales for the current business year.

Sony also said today that it expects to sell ten million PS3s in the current business year, having sold a combined total of 16.5 million PS3 and PS2 units during the last one. PS2 sales weren't included in today's forecast.

Software sales of both packaged and digital PlayStation games are expected to rise from 266 million units during the last business year to 319 million in the current one.

Sony didn't offer any sales guidance for PS4. The company has confirmed a PS4 release date of "holiday 2013" in at least one of Japan, Europe and the US.