Sony is not anticipating to make a loss with the launch of the PlayStation 4.

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During a earnings call today, Sony CFO Masaru Kato stated, "Unlike PS3, we are not planning a major loss to be incurred with the launch of PS4."Kato's prediction (caught by Eurogamer ) is mainly down to PS4 using a chip that has required much less R&D and investment by the company."At the time we developed PS3, we made a lot of in-house investments to develop the chip – the Cell chip," said Kato. "Development of the chip saw the silicon processing and all the facilities invested by us ourselves."Yes we have a team working on chip development – but we already have existing technology to incorporate and also product investment and all the facilities will now be invested by our partners, other foundries, so we don't have to make all the investment in-house."The company's net income was 42.8 billion yen (roughly $436 million). While this isn't huge, it's a healthy improvement considering the huge losses of a year ago, and it's the first time the company has been in profit since 2008. Not too shabby for Kaz Hirai's first year in charge of the whole company.Meanwhile, in the games segment sales were down 12.2% and operating income (a measure of a film's profit excluding taxes and interest) was down by 94% to $18 million.Combined sales of PS3 and PS2 consoles have fallen to 16.5 million from 18 million last year. This isn't surprising though, factoring generation fatigue and the announcement of the PlayStation 4. Sony's portables – PSP and Vita – sold 7 million units, which is a slight improvement on the 6.8 million sold last year. While up, it's worth noting that the Vita's price-cut in Japan (Feb 2013) undermined the fact more units were shifted, earning Sony less money overall.The report is optimistic about the future of the company's game business: "Sales are expected to increase significantly primarily due to the planned introduction of the PlayStation 4 in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2014. Operating income is expected to be essentially flat year-on-year primarily due to an increase in research and development expenses and marketing expenses related to the introduction of the PS4."Its fortunes haven't reversed entirely but this is a much leaner, streamlined, and ultimately more profitable Sony than the company of a year ago.

Daniel is IGN's UK Staff Writer. You can be part of the world's most embarrassing cult by following him on IGN and Twitter