According to its latest earnings release, Sony has reported selling a total of 38.4 million PlayStation 5 consoles, with 6.3 million of those being sold in the three months leading up to March 31st, 2022. This is compared to the 2 million consoles shipped during the same quarter of the previous year. The company also outperformed its previous forecast of 18 million, by shipping 19.1 million PS5 during fiscal 2022.
Bloomberg reported that while Sony’s game software revenue increased overall, the number of units shipped fell from 70.5 million to 68 million in the same quarter of 2022. PlayStation Network monthly active users increased slightly from 106 million to 108 million, but there was no change to the number of PlayStation Plus subscribers, remaining at 47.4 million. However, the company’s hardware supply problems seem to be over, as noted by a
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CNBC notes that despite mixed software sales, Sony’s financials for the year were strong, reporting a record operating profit of 1.21 trillion yen (around $8.9 billion). Revenue in the quarter rose by 35 percent to 3.06 trillion yen (around $22.5 billion). Sony has yet to release sales figures for its PlayStation VR2 headset, which launched during the quarter. Bloomberg reports that Sony’s profit forecast for the current fiscal year is “conservative,” with the company anticipating an operating profit of 1.17 trillion yen (around $8.6 billion), a 3 percent drop year-over-year.
One factor that may have contributed to lower software sales is the lack of major first-party game releases during the quarter. Sony will need strong software sales and subscriptions to build a mutually reinforcing cycle of console and game sales as it moves forward.
