Sony has been facing some serious hurdles as of late. In March, the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan as well as the security breach of Sony’s PlayStation Network has given the company a $3.2 billion dollar net loss.
As The Register reports, Sony has said in a statement that the company is facing serous hurdles due to the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan which will cost about $268.9 million dollars. Sony also stated that its net loss for the fiscal year that ended March 31st will be about $3.18 billion dollars. This, however, does not factor in the massive security breach that the PlayStation Network suffered in April.
Recently, Sony shut down its Playstation Network due to a massive security breach. “We have discovered that between April 17 and April 19, 2011, certain PlayStation Network and Qriocity service user account information was compromised in connection with an illegal and unauthorized intrusion into our network. While there is no evidence at this time that credit card data was taken, we cannot rule out the possibility.” Sony shut down its PlayStation Network on April 20 due to the breach.
Due to the massive security breach that left the PlayStation Network offline for 23 days, Sony estimates the damage to cost the company at least $171 million dollars. This estimate does not include expenses related to lawsuits that may have occurred as a result of the security breach (discovered on April 19). The estimate does, however, include expenses related to an identity theft prevention program and a promotional package to win back customers.
Sony is expecting to lose an estimated $1.8 billion dollars by the end of this fiscal year (March 31, 2012).
Further reading: Playstation, Sony