Sony Exec Acknowledges Poor PS Vita Sales, System “Not Performing That Well”, PS4 R&D Cost Less than PS3 R&D

In case you missed it, we let you know about Sony’s Q1 financials earlier today, which showed that the PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, and PlayStation Portable all performed lower than the same period last year.

Shortly after releasing the numbers, Sony held an earnings call (captured by SeekingAlpha), where a Q&A session was held. Coming from Kota Ezawa, Research Division of Citigroup, they asked about the PS4 R&D costs, as well as numbers for the different quarters. The unnamed Sony executive who answered this question wouldn’t go into specific product and loss numbers, but he did talk about the various PlayStation systems:

As you might know very well and would not need an explanation, but compared to the same period the previous year, PS3 number declined and software business increased. And PSP continues the decline. And PS Vita, as you know, [is] not performing that well. And PS2 ceased to exist. So top line difference would be there.

The executive the continued on and made mention of the fact that “in terms of the weight of investment, PS4 is a much lighter platform compared to PS3” – which makes sense, considering they didn’t have to develop something like the Cell chip.

With the PlayStation 4 out this holiday, and the PlayStation Vita being able to Remote Play almost every single game, hopefully this means that the system will see a big turnaround in sales volume next year.

What do you think the Vita needs to do to achieve more sales? Let us know in the comments below.

[Via]

Essential Reading:

TRENDING