Global PS3 sales still behind Xbox 360

The PlayStation arm of Sony's empire performed better than ever during the year ended 31st March 2011.

A record 14.3 million PS3s were sold during those 12 months, taking the global PS3 tally to 50 million.

But Microsoft's worldwide Xbox 360 total is higher, standing at 53.6 million (as of January 2011).

Sony's PSP recorded its worst year since 2006, selling only 8 million units.

Sales of PS2 continued to decline, dropping from 7.3 million the year prior to 6.4 million.

But game sales rose sharply on PS3 this year, increasing from 115.6 million the year prior to nearly 150 million.

That's a lot more than on PSP, where game sales were 46.6 million. PS2 sales deflated significantly to 14.6 million.

The full-year result: a £267.3 million (¥35.6 billion / $435.3 million) operating profit for the Networked Products and Services division, to which PlayStation belongs.

The Sony empire as a whole lost £1.92 billion ( ¥259.6 billion / $3.14 billion) this last financial year. The devastating earthquake and tsunami that ravaged Japan in March was pointed to as a major contributor.

The PSN hack had no affect on these full year results - it happened in late April, after the results were calculated. Sony expects the PSN hack bill to be £105 million this time next year. The Sony empire as a whole expects whopping losses of £1.95 billion.

It's not all doom and gloom, though - Sony will presumably launch its Next Generation Portable before this financial year ends next March. The question is, will shoppers give NGP a less lethargic welcome than they did the 3DS?