Sony: Work on "future platform" is "already underway"

Sony has said work is"already under way" on a "future platform," despite Kaz Hirai stating a few months back the firm hadn't even started discussing a successor to PS3.

Speaking during call to investors this morning, Sony's VP and CFO Masaru Kato made the comment regarding the next platform when asked to explain the increased research and development costs noted in Sony's latest financial report.

"For the home equipment the PS3 still has a product life," he said, "but this is a platform business, so for the future platform - when we'll be introducing what product I cannot discuss that - but our development work is already under way, so the costs are incurred there."

Back in February, Sony boss Kaz Hirai said "a near-future PS4 or next-generation home console is not something that we are even debating now," because Sony was still "concentrating fully upon the PS3," and the upcoming NGP.

However, most console makers are always looking at what to do with its next console, so while it is no surprise that Sony has something going on in the back of the shop, it is a bit surprising for it to admit it this soon. Might have something to do with Project Cafe's reveal at E3 next month - might not.

However, Kato also said the losses the firm has reported over the last few years can be attributed to a difference in cost and sales price for PS3 system - and this is something the firm does not plan to let happen with the next console, especially when it spent billions creating its own superconductor center.

The CFO went on to say that since the semiconductor business is changing: "It is no longer thinkable to have a huge initial financial investment like that of the PS3."

The R&D division reported an 0.4 percent increase in sales to 1,579,300 million yen compared to a loss last year, after the firm implemented hardware cost reductions for PS3 while increasing the consoles software sales.

For the year, Sony shipped14.3 million PS3  units, 8 million PSPs  and 2.64 million PS2 systems.

PS3 shipped 147,900,000 units of software, PSP 46,600,000 and PS2 shipped 16,400,000 for PS2.

For its current fiscal year, the firm expects to ship 15 million PS3s, 6 million PSPs and 4 million PS2 consoles.

Thanks:  Eurogamer, Andriasang, Miladesn.