As we reach the end of the year and approach the Christmas season, the three major hardware delevoper release their profit and loss figures to the public. Some may be surprised by the resuts.

A basic rundown is below.

Nintendo:

The company has reported a 54.4 billion yen (around $459.5 million) profit for the first half of its fiscal year, ending September 30th, a 48% increase on the same time last year.

The sharp profit are generally attributed to 26.82 million units of the DS and DS Lite sold to date, as well as high selling titles such as New Super Mario Bros. and Brain Training / Brain Age.

Sony:

The recent months have not been all too friendly for Sony, with a very weak quarterly profit of just 1.7 billion yen ($14.36 million). The games division for the company sees itself 43.5 billion yen ($367.5 million) in the red, which is largely attributed to the developement and marketing of the PS3.

Overall profit for the company is rather small, largely maintained by non-gaming related sectors of the company.

Microsoft:

Microsoft's gaming division has always suffered a financial loss, as the company continues to push the Xbox brand at a a lower selling price than production costs. What this basically means is that the more units the machine sells, the more money Microsoft loses.

Thankfully, constantly lowering production costs for the machine have seen the Entertainment and Devices Division lose only $96 million, as opposed to the $173 million loss the same time last year. Microsoft expects the Xbox brand to start selling in the green by 2008.

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Tags : microsoft : Nintendo : nintendo ds : PlayStation 3 : Sony : Xbox 360

Comments

By: dilmanator On: 02:09 Oct 27th, 2006 Offline	holy hell... Nintendo really were doing things right... Sony on the other hand........

By: Misha Aogail On: 10:04 Oct 27th, 2006 Offline	With the stir for the PS3 presells, Sony is out to bank a BUNCH of money this holiday season. Since I started working for Toys R Us back in late August, we have gotten, on average, 10 phone calls a day asking when we are doing presells for the PS3. Yesterday we found out our store is doing only 3, yes 3, presells starting this coming Sunday. We have already confirmed one individual that is going to be setting up camp outside our store Saturday night to ensure he'll get one. I mean it's nuts! Not to mention the way that Sony is playing things up much like Microsoft with the 2 versions (el cheapo, which rumors still state will only play PS3 games - $500, and the big one, which will play all Playstation games - $600). The wii however has not been a very popular item. We might get five people that ask about that a week. So.... We shall see how crazy this holiday season will be....

By: ApplesauceNinja On: 04:55 Oct 30th, 2006 Offline	I won't lie. When I first became familiar with the system that would become the Nintendo Wii, I predicted the demise of Nintendo as a hardware manufacturer. Now, at least in my neck of the woods, every time there is any kind of preorder for the Wii, they're gone in five minutes flat, if that. While that alone doesn't neccessarily indicate a bright future for the big N, I think it is a good indicator. When you consider all of the system's upsides, it's easy to see them becoming a contender again. I really think with its accessibility to novice gamers and unique new control system appealing to avid fans, I see Nintendo bucking the trend and climbing right back into the console fight. I know it's not a terribly powerful system, but let's face it, there have been a lot of really pretty games that were absolute duds to play. Good for Nintendo for placing their hopes and dreams on upping the fun factor. It seems to have worked out well for the DS. I know I'll be buying one in addition to an Xbox 360. I have no desire to purchase a PS3. I haven't owned PS1 or 2 so far, and I think I'll keep it that way.