Sony Q3 results: PS3 sales rise to 47.9 million, close on 360

While both PS3 and PSP saw drops in hardware sales for the Holiday quarter, both systems enjoyed rises in the software sales for the period.

PlayStation 3 sold 6.3 million units in the three months ending December 31, down by 0.2 million units on the same time period from last year, although Sony has already met its sales projection for the year.

Total global PS3 sales now stand at 47.9 million. Xbox 360 has sold 50 million worldwide, as announced at CES.

PSP sold 3.6 million units in Q3, down year-on-year by by 0.6 million. PS2 sales were the same as they were at this time in 2010 at 2.1 million units.

Software, however, was well up, with 57.6 million PS3 games being sold in the quarter compared to 47.6 million in the likewise prior period.

PSP software sales, too, rose sharply: 16.5 million units were sold for the hardware compared to 15 million in the same 2009 quarter. The rise was in contrast to the Q2 comparison this year, which saw PSP game sales fall from 13 million to 11 million.

PS2 software sales dropped massively, down from 11.2 million in 2009 to 5.3 million this year.

Sony's Networked Products and Services division, which houses both the company's PlayStation and VAIO business, has extended Q3 profit from ¥19.5 billion to ¥45.7 billion year-on-year, the firm said today.

Full report is here.