Over the last week, there’s been a mixed bag of news for Sony and their 2012 outlook. Despite the company posting a record $5.7 billion annual loss, the electronic giant was hopeful about returning to profitability in 2013. Still, Sony’s sales were down across the board, including the PlayStation division, with sales down 6.8% compared to a year ago. Though not amazing numbers, the PlayStation Vita, Sony’s recently-released handheld, sold 1.8 million units since its debut earlier in the year, beating many analyst expectations.

A big part of Sony’s PlayStation sales dips are attributed to their old consoles which have continued to sell well past their life cycle. Down to 4.1 million units sold, compared to 6.4 million units from the years past, the PS2 has been a shining beacon for Sony as the 12-year-old console continues to help Sony’s bottom line. The PSP has also seen a drop, down to 6.8 million versus 8 million from the year prior. With the PS Vita waiting to catch on fire and continued strength from the Nintendo 3DS and smartphones, it’s surprising to see the PSP sell as many as it did, giving further credibility to the continued strength of the PlayStation brand and available games. The PS3 was also no slouch, though it took a dip of 400,00 units compared to the year prior, with 13.9 million units sold.

More charts and numbers after the jump.

This puts the power gaming console’s (PS3) lifetime sales at 63.9 million units, while the PSP comes in at 71.4 million units sold worldwide. As expected, the PS2 sits atop the sales ladder with a whopping 153.19 million units sold.

With an expected price drop to both the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita at E3, Sony should see a nice spike in PlayStation sales for the year, something which was absent during the year prior. However, with a price cut comes a loss in earnings on each unit sold. With many of Sony’s divisions in the red, thanks to stiff competition, can the company really afford to slash prices on their remaining powerful division?

Discuss:

Should Sony cut the prices of the PS3 and PS Vita at E3?