Price cuts for the PlayStation 3 are among the factors Sony is studying as it seeks to break even in its money-losing gaming segment in the next business year, a company executive said Wednesday.

Startup costs for the video game console were the main reason for the 5 percent drop in Sony Corp.'s quarterly earnings announced Tuesday. The electronics and entertainment company also said the 20 percent price cut on the game machine in Japan, announced even before it went on sale in November, hurt profits.

Senior Vice President Takao Yuhara said red ink in the gaming division for the business year through March could turn out to be worse than the 200 billion yen operating loss forecast for now.