Sony’s (NYSE:SNE) Q2 net profit more than doubled to 66.46 billion yen ($540 million) on 13.3 percent better revenue of 1.98 trillion yen ($16 billion) in the quarter to end of June, thanks to strong sales of consumer electronics and, finally, Playstation 3. Among the division results:

-- Games: The decision to lower the price of the games console in Japan in the fall has worked - with 710,000 shipped worldwide in the quarter, sales in the games unit ballooned 60.5 percent from the same quarter last year to 196.6 billion yen ($1.6 billion). But that meant a loss of 29.2 billion yen ($237 million), 2.4 billion yen worse that last year’s quarter, because the cost of the console is now below that of production. Playstation 3 has been taking a beating from Nintendo Wii (3.43 million in the same quarter) and Microsoft Xbox 360 (700,000 shipped). Despite the PS3 now being on sale, sales of the predecessor PS2 console and games also increased this quarter, along with those for the PSP handheld. Sony announced a U.S. PS3 price cut earlier this month.

-- Music: Sales at Sony BMG crept up 0.3 percent on the same period last year to $875 million ”due to the strength of several releases combined with the growth in digital sales being offset by the decline in the worldwide physical music market”. But an $81 million loss was turned into a $21 million profit thanks to lower marketing, overhead and restructuring costs.

-- Mobile: At EUR 3.1 ($4.3) billion, quarter sales at the Sony Ericsson joint venture were 37 percent up on the same period last year - attributed to strong sales in the Walkman-and Cybershot-branded handsets the company has been able to release, offering better music and photo experiences.

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