Sony’s PS5 just had its biggest quarter of sales since release

Sony wasn’t lying when it said the PlayStation 5 shortage was over earlier this month. Its latest earnings release has revealed that the console just had its strongest quarter yet, with 7.1 million PS5s shipped in the three months leading up to December 31st, 2022. That’s almost double the 3.9 million it sold in the same quarter the previous year.

According to Sony’s earnings releases, the company has now shipped 32.1 million units of its latest generation console, which is in line with the 30 million lifetime sales figure it revealed at the beginning of January. It’s a big turnaround after production was hit hard by the global chip shortage, making it difficult for the company to keep up with demand for its new console throughout much of its two-year lifespan. “If you’re looking to purchase a PS5 console, you should now have a much easier time finding one at retailers globally,” Isabelle Tomatis, VP of brand, hardware, and peripherals at Sony Interactive Entertainment, said earlier this week.

The increase in PS5 console sales is part of the reason Sony has increased its year-end operating profit forecasts to 1.18 trillion yen (around $9.1 billion), up from 1.16 trillion yen previously, Nikkei notes. Although the new forecast still represents a decline of 2 percent year-over-year, one analyst quoted by Bloomberg was impressed by Sony’s performance given the struggles of the tech sector at large. “Given the current climate where demand is deteriorating around the world, it’s amazing that Sony’s earnings are in line with expectations,“ said Morningstar Investment Service analyst Kazunori Ito.

Elsewhere, PlayStation Plus subscriber numbers saw a slight bump to 46.4 million on a quarter-over-quarter basis, but they were still slightly down from 48 million in the same quarter the previous year. However, revenue from network services increased by around 17 percent, suggesting that Sony’s revamped PlayStation Plus subscription tiers are pushing up average revenue per user.

Sony will have to continue selling PlayStation 5 consoles at a similar rate if it wants to hit its target of 18 million consoles sold by the end of its 2022 financial year, which will mean selling an additional 5.2 million consoles in the three months ending March 31st, VGC notes. But with the company’s much-anticipated PSVR 2 headset releasing on February 22nd, and a seemingly big-budget marketing blitz underway, that target could well be within reach.