Technology giant's PlayStation sector posts loss in first quarter due to lower sales of PSP and PS3 hardware and software; company loses $313.9M in total.

Sony's game division posted an operating loss of ’3.5 billion ($45 million) for the company's first quarter ended June 30, the Tokyo technology titan announced today. Revenue for the period took a 14.5 percent hit, dropping to ’118 billion ($1.5 billion). Sony said this downturn was a result of lower sales of hardware and software for the PSP and PlayStation 3, as well as the impact of "unfavorable" foreign exchange rates, compared to a year ago prior.

Sony is seeing red.

As for hardware, combined sales of PlayStation 2 and PS3 units during the period came in at 2.8 million, down from the 3.2 million the company sold this time last year. PSP and PlayStation Vita combined sales hit 1.4 million units for the period, a decline from the 1.8 million sold last year.

Concerning software, sales in this sector were down, too. Combined PS2 and PS3 software sales reached 20.1 million copies for the period, a decline from the 27.6 million sold a year ago prior. The PSP and PS Vita accounted for software sales of 5.8 million units, down from the 6.6 million recorded this time last year.

Sony does not foresee its portables turning around anytime soon. The company said portable hardware sales are expected to be "significantly lower" than what it had previously forecasted, due to the decrease in sales for the first quarter and poor foreign currency exchange rates. Additionally, Sony said operating income is expected to decrease "significantly" year-over-year.

As for Sony's business as a whole, the company posted revenue of ’1.52 trillion ($19.4 billion) for the period, up 1.4 percent year-on-year. Losses totaled ’24.6 billion ($313.9 million), an increase over the ’15.5 billion ($197.8 billion) hit the company took this quarter last year.

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