The electronics giant now believes it will sell 7 million handhelds PS Vitas and PSPs by the end of the twelve month period, having previously aimed for a target of 10 million.
Even that figure had been revised down from Sony's original projection of 16 million handhelds sold during the course of the year.
Stagnancy
The reason for the third cull? In short, PS Vita sales remain stagnant, with Sony having sold 2.7 million handhelds between October and December 2012.
That actually represents a rise of 300,000 units from the same period the year before, though notably, that was before Vita rolled out in North America and Europe the following February.
Sony pulled no punches when it came to explaining the reason behind its current financial woes smartphones are to blame.
Interestingly, however, Sony believes mobiles are having a greater impact on sales of its digital cameras than they are its handhelds.
"In the digital imaging and the game businesses...the shrinking market for compact digital cameras, due to the expansion of the smartphone market, and the slow penetration of the PlayStation Vita portable entertainment platform are recognised as particularly important issues," detailed Sony in its report.
"In the game business, Sony is working to expand sales and operating income through the introduction of an attractive software lineup and through offering game software on mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets."
The sky isn't falling
Sales across Sony's games division, which also includes the PlayStation 3, fell by more than 15 percent though, company wide, analysts have branded the firm's latest quarter as one of recovery.
Net losses for the quarter fell to ¥10.8 billion around $115 million from ¥159 billion during the same period in 2011.
Not a dramatic turnaround, then, but with the likes of the latest Bond movie Skyfall pushing Sony's film division into profit, there are signs of green shoots.
Handhelds, however, remains a challenge. Estimates suggest PS Vita's worldwide total currently sits at around the 4 million mark less than 300,000 believed to have been sold in the UK since launch, with the US estimate coming in at around 1.2 million.
In the UK, Vita's launch coincided with the demise of games retailer Game Sony's launch partner for the device, which was left without midnight launches across the country.
As PocketGamer.biz reported at the time, PS Vita's ten week total in the UK came in at less than a third of what the PSP had amassed at the same period in its life.
[source: Sony (PDF)]
