In its latest earnings announcement, which concerns the second quarter of the 2023 financial year, Sony has revealed some significant new insight into the current trajectory of PlayStation 5 hardware and software sales.
As reported by Reuters, this second quarter saw 4.9 million PS5 units sold bringing the current sales total for this financial year up to 8.2 million. This represents an increase in overall hardware sales compared to the same period last year, although the revenue from much of this growth has been offset by increased hardware losses.
In spite of this, the company still plans to stick to its target of 25 million PS5 sales by the end of this financial year which even Sony president Hiroki Totoki admits might “not [be] something we can attain very easily.”
With the arrival of the new slimmer PS5 model on the horizon, not to mention the imminent release of the PlayStation Portal remote player, hardware sales may well start picking up in the coming months - especially with potential Black Friday deals on the way.
In terms of software growth, the company has revealed that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is performing very well with five million units already sold as of the end of last month. Third-party game sales have also increased, including sales of add-on content, which is perhaps not too unexpected given the arrival of recent high-profile hits like Baldur’s Gate 3 and Lies of P.
Sony expects this growth to continue into the third quarter and has increased its full-year forecast for game sales by almost 5%. Although its gaming offerings have been performing particularly well, the company has suffered a decline in profit elsewhere.
In the chip division, for example, profit has decreased by almost 40% as a result of higher expenses and lower-than-expected sales.
If you don't own a PS5 quite yet, see our guide to Black Friday PS5 controller deals and the best Black Friday PS5 deals for the very latest offers.
