Chief Financial Officer confirms that increased R&D costs in Sony's books are largely due to next generation console development.
Masaru Kato, Sony CFO and executive video president, was asked about the increased costs of research and development for the company, following the release of its annual earnings report on Thursday.
"We have a portable NGP to be launched later this year, so we have development expenses to be incurred for this product and for the home equipment," Kato said.
"The PS3 still has a product life, but this is a platform business, so for the future platform--when we'll be introducing what product I cannot discuss that--but our development work is already under way, so the costs are incurred there."
Nintendo confirmed rumors of an upcoming Wii successor last month, saying the console would be playable at E3 next month. Microsoft also started looking to fill positions for the development of next generation Xbox products in March.
"We have a portable NGP to be launched later this year, so we have development expenses to be incurred for this product and for the home equipment," Kato said.
"The PS3 still has a product life, but this is a platform business, so for the future platform--when we'll be introducing what product I cannot discuss that--but our development work is already under way, so the costs are incurred there."
Nintendo confirmed rumors of an upcoming Wii successor last month, saying the console would be playable at E3 next month. Microsoft also started looking to fill positions for the development of next generation Xbox products in March.
