Since the launch of the PS3 VG247 estimate Sony's Games Department have lost a total of $4.7 Billion. In comparison Microsoft have lost $4.2 Billion since the Xbox360 console was released almost 4 years ago.

Sony’s games division has reportedly suffered almost $5 billion in losses since the company launched the PS3 in November 2006.

According to VG247, figures from Sony’s investor relations website show that total PlayStation division losses since the console’s release stand at $4.7 billion.

The report points out that the figure includes losses incurred by Sony’s VAIO business over the past two quarters. VAIO has been grouped with the PlayStation unit under the company’s Networked Products & Services division since the beginning of the platform holder’s current financial year a little over six months ago.

In comparison, the site claims that Microsoft’s Xbox division suffered losses of $4.2 billion in the four business years following the original Xbox’s November 2001 launch.

Earlier this week as part of its second quarter financial results, Sony said that its Networked Products & Services division had recorded a drop in sales and increased losses on a year-on-year basis. Declines within its games business were attributed primarily to “the impact of the appreciation of the yen as well as a decrease in unit sales of PlayStation 2 hardware and software”.

Dragoon via vg247.com »