Sony has revealed its third quarter financial earnings ending on December 31 2016, in which the PlayStation 4 exceeded sales figures from the same time last year.
The company launched both PlayStation VR and PS4 Pro this past year, helping to boost overall sales and contributing to $2.4 billion of the division’s revenue. However, the Japanese company did not stipulate the exact number sold for either piece of hardware.
Earnings from last year rose 5% from $5.20 billion to $5.3 billion, a 15% increase on a constant currency basis. Operating income, meanwhile, was significantly higher, at $431 million – a $70 million increase over last year’s end of the third fiscal quarter number.
Sony reported that its profit margin was affected by the impact of foreign exchange rates and price cuts for PS4 hardware. Despite that, overall profits were still higher than last year due to manufacturing price reductions and the boost in PS4 software sales.
As of the last official report, the PS4 has sold 53.4 million units. In comparison, the PlayStation 2 – the best selling home console ever – had sold a similar amount of units in the same period of its lifecycle. It is, however, important to note that the PS2 was not released during the holiday season.