The well-known analyst at Niko Partners, Daniel Ahmad, has recently shared some vital documents released by Sony regarding the impact of the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic currently underway on the launch of the much-awaited Playstation 5 console.
The company has presented its financial results for fiscal year 2019, and has clarified that although the coronavirus pandemic has affected its business, it has not disrupted the console’s launch plans.
Here is Sony's full statement on impact from COVID-19 on PlayStation. pic.twitter.com/glWqWf6kVP
— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) May 13, 2020
“Although there has been a slight impact on production of PS4 hardware due to issues in the component supply chain, demand in the short-term is being addressed with current inventory and sales are trending well. Sales of game software that is downloaded from the network, as well as PS Plus and PlayStation Now (PS Now) subscriber numbers have significantly increased,” the company said at the investor meeting.
“Regarding the launch of PlayStation 5, although factors such as employees working from home and restrictions on international travel have presented some challenges in regards to part of the testing process and the qualification of production lines, development is progressing with the launch of the console scheduled for the 2020 holiday season,” Sony said.
Fortunately, it seems that the situation is under control for PS5, whose market debut is expected for the next Christmas period.
The company has acknowledged that sales of first-party games and hardware have declined slightly as the end of the console’s life cycle is near. “At this point in time major problems have not arisen in the game software development pipeline for Sony’s own first-party studios or its partners’ studios,” the company said.
Sony’s video games division has been a joy for the company, since those of music and film have been much more affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
