Sony’s gaming division finally returns to profitability

After losing money for about a year, Sony’s games division looks like it’s finally earning its parent company some money thanks to increased software and hardware sales and a reduction in PlayStation 3 production costs. Operating income came to $113 million for its third fiscal quarter ended December 31, up from an operating loss of $507 million a year ago.

According to Sony, the company managed to sell 4.9 million PlayStation 3 gaming consoles during the quarter, after reducing prices on the expensive console. Even though the PS3 seems to be in an upswing, Sony has lowered its full-year sales targets for the console from 11 million units to 9.5 million. However, it raised targets for the PSP from 10 million to 13 million units. Overall, Sony’s net income rose 25 percent to $1.9 billion in the final quarter of 2007, with a total sales increase of 9.6 percent to $26.8 billion.