Sega swings to losses, citing 'sluggish consumer spending'

Sega saw a swing to losses during the first half of this fiscal year, due to what the company described as "sluggish consumer spending." Although the company says that sales in its digital games business remained solid, and its packaged goods business even exceeded the year-over-year result, Sega's games business still saw an overall drop in operating income. Phantasy Star Online 2 is still doing the business, says Sega, while titles like Puyopuyo!! Quest and CHAIN CHRONICLE – Kizuna no Shintairiku are also selling well. What caused the swing to losses, then? Sega's Pachinko business saw a hefty drop in profits, while the company's Amusement Center Operations recorded a swing to losses year-over-year. In fact, only Sega's Amusement Machine sales recorded an increase in profits -- every other sector was down. For the six months ended September 30, 2014, Sega's consumer business posted revenues of 48.6 billion yen ($436.1 million), up 10.3 percent year-over-year, and operating income of 939 million yen ($8.4 million), down 16.0 percent year-over-year. Overall, the company recorded revenues of 154.2 billion yen ($1.4 billion), down 4.9 percent year-over-year, and losses of 2.1 billion yen ($18.8 million), compared to profits of 11.3 billion yen ($101.5 million) year-over-year.