SONY Q3 RESULTS
January 26, 2001

Sony Corporation reported profits of 72.2 billion yen (US$628 million) for its third fiscal quarter, ending December 31, 2000, primarily as a result of strong performance in its electronics division.

As expected, Sony's games division was not quite as lucky. Due mostly to significant losses per system of its PS2 and marketing of the launch, as well a decline in demand for its original Playstation system and games, the company posted a loss of 13.9 billion yen (US$121 million) for this sector.

Sony had a strong quarter in terms of hardware. PlayStation/PSone hardware shipments for the quarter were 3.69 million, down from 6.61 million in the same period a year ago, bringing cumulative shipments to 79.61 million. Software shipments were 54 million, down from 82 million in the third quarter last year.

PS2 sales, however, picked up significantly over the second quarter. 2.88 million PS2s were shipped during the third quarter, bringing cumulative shipments to 6.4 million. Given this increase, it would seem Sony is on track to meet its goal of 10 million systems shipped by the end of its current fiscal year (March 31, 2001). Software shipments for the quarter were 16.9 million, bringing cumulative numbers to 24.9 million, an indication that PS2 software has finally begun to get stronger.