It used to be that PlayStation propped up Sony's troubled consumer electronics division - now it's the other way around. The company has just announced that its net profits for the three months ending September 30 were 73.7 billion yen, or £315 million. The New York Times says that's a 43-fold increase on last year.
While digital cameras, flatpanel TVs and other consumer gadgets have contributed to this impressive financial performance, what of PlayStation 3? Losses on the machine have apparently almost doubled from a year ago to 96.7 billion yen, or £413 million. Ouch.
Incidentally, Sony's chief exec Howard Stringer has been boosting the performance of the company by shedding non-key businesses and products - one of which is, sniff, Aibo. Yes, the emblematic robot toy has been put down, a possible victim of PlayStation's disappointing year.
Ah, Aibo and PS3: one is a pointless mechanical novelty, chasing its tail for a tiny audience of monied posers. The other is a robot dog.
