Sony And Nintendo Cut Profit Forecasts Amidst Low Hardware Demand

Sony and Nintendo have lowered profit forecasts for the year ahead, both companies faced with their own distinct problems.

Bloomberg report that Sony cut its profit estimate by 25%, citing lower than expected T.V. demand in the U.S. and Europe.

Losses for the T.V. unit are reportedly due to “significantly” lower than expected shipments. The business has posted seven consecutive years of losses so far. The New York Times report that Sony are looking to the upcoming PlayStation Vita and its pair of recently-announced Android OS-based tablet devices to lift sales. The PlayStation Vita, however, will be sold at a loss for the next three years.

Meanwhile, Nintendo slashed their own net income forecast by  an alarming 82%, following a significant price drop on the Nintendo 3DS and a 50% decrease in sales for the financial quarter ended June 30th, compared to the previous year.

Last night, Nintendo announced, alongside the launch dates of high-profile games in the second half of the year, plans to cut the price of the 3DS system by 40%, in a move to generate interest in the system. Nintendo kept their forecast to sell 16 million Nintendo 3DS systems by the end of the ongoing fiscal year in March 2012, however.