Sony have recently revealed figures showing that their flagship console, the Playstation 4, had sold over 22.3 million units by the end of March. These numbers come alongside news that a total of 14.8 million units were sold worldwide since the end of the last financial year.
Obviously, Playstation 4 has played a huge role in the profit accumulated by Sony’s gaming department in the past twelve months, a profit which adds up to a solid $404 million. Understandably, Sony are expecting to see these figures increase, predicting another 16 million Playstation 4 units to fly off shelves in the next twelve months. Alongside the increased console sales, the company has also enjoyed a boom in network and software based revenue.
Despite this added growth in software and network sales, Sony experienced a sharp drop in revenue from their portable gaming systems, namely the Playstation Vita and Playstation TV, tumbling down from a healthy $4.1 million last year to $3.3 million this year. Alongside plummeting portable device sales, they also experienced a decline in the ongoing revenue generated by their previous console, the Playstation 3. Luckily, it seems that the success of the Playstation 4, combined with heightened network income, has more than made up for the drop in demand for portable and last-gen products.
It’s also worth noting the figures that Sony have released concerning their overall, financial well-being. After raking in a cool $576 million in profit, a 159% increase on last year’s numbers, Sony have managed to pull themselves out of a slump, generating the company’s highest operating profit in seven years. With this in mind, it seems there is no lack of optimism from their camp, as the company’s 15/16 projections are looking for profits to quadruple by the end of the next financial year.
Time will only tell if CEO Kaz Hirai can keep Sony on the straight and narrow, but for now, let us know, do you think the Playstation 4 will continue to dominate? Or are Sony’s financial predictions just a tad too optimistic? Sound off below!