![PS5 Sales Touch 55 Million As Sony Breaks Records 1](https://images.pushsquare.com/adf8aeca1f55f/ps5-sales-touch-55-million-as-sony-breaks-records-1.900x.jpg)
You may not be fully satisfied with how PlayStation is running its business right now, but Sony’s bringing home the big bucks all the same. The firm’s gaming division is printing cash, as it shipped a sturdy 8.2 million PS5 units throughout the three-month period ending 31st December, 2023. That’s an increase of 1.1 million year-over-year, and it puts the PS5’s lifetime sales at 54.8 million units to date.
The company enjoyed its greatest ever quarter by revenue, pulling in approximately ~$10.2 billion, although high costs are eating into its profit margins, meaning it managed just ~$608 million in operating income. While PlayStation is a money-making machine at the moment, its high expenses will be a cause for concern, as its business is basically on a knife-edge that could easily topple into the red.
Perhaps the big disappointment for Sony will be that it’s now unlikely to hit its 25 million units target for the PS5 by the end of March, as it’s shipped 16.4 million units so far this fiscal year, and would need to tack on another 8.6 million throughout the current quarter to do so. Consequently, the firm has set a new target of 21 million units instead.
It’s also lost a little pace on the PS4 launch aligned, which had an install base of 57.1 million units at this point in its lifecycle. Obviously, the PS5 had crippling stock shortages for its first few years on the market, though.
Still, while these things could all be seen as negatives, there’s no doubt the PS5 is doing unbelievably well, and it’s setup to have another big year with upcoming titles like Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Rise of the Ronin, and Stellar Blade. Do you think there’s anything else Sony should be doing to maintain this momentum? Let us know in the comments section below.
[source sony.com]
Comments 29
I think they're probably at the point where they need a permanent price drop now, but looking at their razor-thin margins, I wonder if they have the room to do it.
They could make their PS Plus Extra & Premium sales available to everyone for a start instead of cherry picking who can & can't take advantage of the offers when they're on sale.
I understand this obviously only effects existing PS owners rather than potential new buyers but still ..... a bit of goodwill goes a long way
Rebirth and Dragon's Dogma 2 will help them sell more than they otherwise would in this period but it's still not looking likely, I agree.
When they wide games portfolio, there will be more reasons to buy PS5. Right now it is almost only Final Fantasy 16 that is worth considering buying console because of it.
@Herculean
If it's available to everyone though, that would allow people who have already paid, to be able stack up their subscription (should they wish to do so). At least then they don't feel like they're being left out in the cold.
Personally I always tend to renew around Black Friday as there always tends to be a sale on then.
“ You may not be fully satisfied with how PlayStation is running its business right now, ”
Don’t want to sound like a fanboy, but honestly I have no complaints.
Ok a few, Polyphony needs to release more tracks (Silverstone for example), for which I’m happy to pay for (and honestly GT can be a great live service game so I am confused why they don’t invest more in it as a live service), secondly, I need Killzone and Resistance (even a remake of Resistance 3 would be great).
And of course Bloodborne 2 (or even a remake like Demons Souls)
And another wipeout.
I can't even imagine how bad Team Green is doing, given half the sales and more expensive unit production cost.
Isn't a very high proportion of that revenue just simply microtransactions which flow through the PS store and straight to EA, Activision and Epic?
Whilst I do like the PS5, this is easily the most disappointing generation and so far it just feels like a high powered PS4. You could have ignored PS5 for it's first 3 years and missed virtually nothing game wise.
It does increasingly look like that long term survival will be putting more of their games elsewhere
@get2sammyb "It’s also lost a little pace on the PS4 launch aligned, which had an install base of 57.1 million units at this point in its lifecycle. Obviously, the PS5 had crippling stock shortages for its first few years on the market, though."
Sony predicted that once PS5 surpass sales of PS4 in Year 4, it will stay ahead. But Sony said that they are expecting dropoff in PS5 sales, so it doesn't look like it will surpass PS4 at all.
https://www.gameinformer.com/sites/default/files/styles/body_default/public/2022/05/26/90660446/sony_page.jpg
Why wouldn't you be happy about how playstation is being run?
The console is solid, and the multiplatform games and exclusives keep flowing.
Few games from Sony owned studios isnt really an issue with the amount of content they're pulling in from others . It's like the PS2 era rather than the PS3. Lots of 3rd /2nd party exclusives
@Godot25 Does it really matter? PS4 was a HUGE success and by comparison but crucially it had very little competition from either Microsoft with the Xbox One or Nintendo in the first 3 years of it's life with the Wii U... until the Switch which came later.
The fact that PS5 is even keeping pace with PS4 in over it's first
3 years is impressive considering Xbox have a compelling offering (a strong console, unprecedented studio acquisitions and have games Day 1 on Game Pass). Meanwhile Nintendo's Switch is aiming to be either the #1 or #2 best selling console of all time.
All things considered PS5 sales are doing great.
Just gotta ask where all the money is being spent with slimmer margins. Maybe they should slim down some of these studios if they dont plan to release first party. I have a ton of 3rd party to play but if 1st cant make games why pay them. Maybe take Bungie out back and shoot them as a complete waste of payroll
@themightyant It matters hugely. Because Sony management wants to see growth. Not selling same amount or even less consoles as in previous gen.
And it's pretty clear, that console market is just limited and it's not growing. So Sony needs to find new growth vector if PlayStation 5 is selling worse than PlayStation 4.
I mean. Just look at the numbers. They have 10 billion in revenue with 6% operating margins. That's just pitiful.
Or look at that in this way.
Spider-Man was developed at 100 million budget, sold at 60$ to audience of 115 million PlayStation 4 users
Spider-Man 2 was developed at 300 million budget, sold at 70$ to an audience of decreasing PlayStation owners.
Do you see the problem? Their investment into development of game tripled, they are only selling game with 10$ price increase to a decreasing audience.
@Godot25 But the audience ISN'T decreasing. It's keeping on par with PS4, give or take a few million, despite PS4 being in a much more favourable environment, that's good going.
Yes their OI is only 6% but this is broadly in line with the last 6 quarters (5.8%, 9.3%, 3.6%, 6.4%, 5.1%, 6.0%) that's not "pitiful" especially considering current unfavourable market conditions.
As for game development costs, I agree things are spiralling and they need to find a way to reduce these or increase income (perhaps by releasing on other platforms, reducing scope or smartly using AI), all contentious topics, but this need to be addressed, it's unsustainable.
Charging same money for a cheaper product = more money.
In its 4th year, the PS4 cleared 76 million units - the PS5 might not be able to keep pace if current price and lacklustre release schedules continue. And Nintendo have a new console waiting in the wings...
Regarding price cuts, surely the PS4 should've dropped to £200 with a game now? It can't owe anything in terms of hardware and software development (apart from the background download chip - that thing is PRICELESS)
@themightyant The reason why I sent this link
https://www.gameinformer.com/sites/default/files/styles/body_default/public/2022/05/26/90660446/sony_page.jpg
in my first post was to demonstrate, that Sony predicted that PS5 will surpass sales of PS4.
And I argued that slowing sales of PS5 are a problem specifically, because SIE management forecasted exact oposite. Worst thing in business is not hitting your expectations.
Yes, PS5 is currently "only" 2,4 million behind PS4. But since Sony is already hinting at slowdown of sales, while PS4 hit it's peak during 4th year on the market, it is the problem only exaggerated by ballooning investments. Also, slowdown is strange since they are supposed to be releasing PS5 Pro. And with Switch 2 launch their position may be even worse.
@bighal it more or less is a live service game.
It's pretty expensive to have all your major studios in California.
@Cikajovazmaj They made more revenue and profit last month
Drop (or greatly reduce) the live service focus, give us some new IPs, increase the value of PS Plus Essential, and increase the first party release cadence and I’d be happier. They’re doing a good job, so I’m relatively happy, but these are things I’d like to see.
@Godot25 If they had hit their target of 25 million it would have broken all Sony's previous records for units sold in a financial year. I believe their revised target of 21 million is about the most they have ever sold anyway, it's no slouch. I'm not sure I would call that 'slowdown', that is overstating it. They simply set an overambitious target and fell short it's not a big deal.
PS5 Pro (if real) will no doubt give sales a boost, just as PS4 Pro did, with early adopters and fans double dipping.
@themightyant No, they are talking about slowdown in sales for next fiscal year ie. from april 2024 to march 2025. Which just isn't good no matter, how you slice it.
If PS6 is slated for 2028, we are still in first half of PS5 lifecycle and Sony is already expecting dropof in sales, which didn't happen in 4th year of PS4 on the market while PS5 is already lagging behind PS4.
And I mean. I don't even need to argue about "is situation fine?" Totoki already hinted during Q&A that they are looking at multiplatform releases for first-party games, that studios needs to reign in spending and they need to raise their margins. He is basically saying that business is not growing in console space and they need to cut costs while expanding towards new audience.
@Godot25 Agreed on rising costs of games, as I said above something needs to change.
Disagree on console sales. 21+ million in a year is huge even if it didn't hit their bullish projections. I don't expect PS5 to hit PS4's target of 117 million units but, as explained above, PS4 had a pretty easy ride due to very weak competition, it was always unlikely to match it. If PS5 hits 100-115 million it will be a great success.
They need to find a way to make some actual decent profit margins. No point selling 100million consoles if they are barely breaking even due to increasing costs.
Its something I mentioned at their last earnings call, which a few of the diehards took offence to, but was right on the money, as explained by their CEO. Like I said then, the devil is in the detail always, you need to read beyond the headlines as they are always sunshine and rainbows
Even if they reach 21million and not 25million, they have had to heavily discount the console worldwide for almost a full calendar year. This is a far from ideal situation and leaves them with very little room to manoeuvre.
This is a problem that needs addressing sharp by the bigwigs as they have already increased the price of games, the console and the subscription and its still nowhere near enough to move the neeedle
Godot25 wrote:
Incorrect. I just looked up the PS4 figures in Sony's financials and it peaked at 20 million in FY16 which launch aligned is the equivalent of FY23 being reported here, after that it gradually declined exactly as there are predicting for the next Fiscal Year for PS5.
Obviously it will depend how much it "gradually declines" but so far this is exactly in line with what happened with the PS4.
@Cikajovazmaj They never have to worry because MS can bail them out and are only the 3rd highest revenue making in MS. Sony 's main money is SIE. They are much more in danger than Xbox will ever be.
Sony need to go day & date to get more profit out of the software they have. The success of Helldivers 2 on steam shows them all they need to know. Consoles make little to no money and they need to modernise their strategy somehow. It is clear what they are doing now is not working for them financially even if the brand loyalty is at an all time high.
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...