Sony has released new numbers on the success of the PlayStation 4. Not only the most recent number of units is known, but it was also revealed how many PS Plus subscriptions are now active. Sony was also able to increase sales of games year-on-year.
The heyday of the PlayStation 4 is coming to an end. But an impressive number of extradition was again called just before the launch of the PS5. The business figures published recently show that the PlayStation 4 had 113.8 million units shipped worldwide by September 30, 2020.
However, the hype surrounding the PS5 is clearly noticeable. Fewer and fewer consumers are willing to invest money in the predecessor. The PS4 came to 1.5 million units sold in the past fiscal quarter. In the same period last year, it was considerably more with 2.8 million units.
Sony recorded a significant increase in the number of PlayStation Plus subscribers. The premium service now has 45.9 million members. For comparison: In the same quarter of the previous year there were 36.9 million fewer PS Plus customers.
The latest annual report also provided information on sales of games. In the second quarter of the current fiscal year, 80.9 million PS4 software units were sold. In the same period last year, there were 70.6 million games.
First-party titles accounted for 12.4 million games sold, after 6.3 million copies in the same period last year. Such numbers, in combination with the growing PS Plus subscriptions, make it clear why Sony is reluctant to establish an Xbox Game Pass alternative. Even Microsoft admitted that Xbox Game Pass isn’t very lucrative.
We still have two numbers: In the case of PS4 games, downloads now have a market share of 59%. A year ago it was 45%. This trend, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, should also have a positive impact on Sony’s results in the years to come.
For the Game & Network Services segment, Sony increased its forecast of 2,500 billion yen (approximately $23.5 billion) in revenue and 240 billion yen (approximately $2.26 billion) in operating income for the fiscal year ended March 30, 2021, to 2,600 Billion yen (approximately $24.9 billion) in sales and 300 billion yen (approximately $2.87 billion) in operating income.
In the new annual report, Sony also went into the pre-sales of the PS5, which are at a record level. At the same time, the company admitted that not all interested parties can purchase a PS5 in the launch phase of the new console.
