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# SONY RECORDS 6.3 MILLION PS5 UNITS SHIPPED IN Q4
In Sony’s latest earnings release, the company stated that it shipped 6.3 million PS5 consoles in Q4 alone, bringing total sales to 38.4 million. This is three times what the company shipped in the same quarter the previous year. It also means that Sony beat its earlier forecast of 18 million by shipping 19.1 million PS5 consoles during fiscal 2022.
# MIXED RESULTS ON THE SOFTWARE SIDE
Revenue from game software was up overall, but units shipped fell from 70.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2021 to 68 million in the same quarter of 2022. PlayStation Network monthly active users were slightly up from 106 million to 108 million, but the number of PlayStation Plus subscribers were flat at 47.4 million. Bloomberg notes that this discrepancy partly reflects the lack of major first-party game releases in the quarter.
# HARDWARE SUPPLY ISSUES RESOLVED
Sony’s hardware supply issues appear to be over, as their supply chain has ramped back up. However, there are concerns that the PS5’s earlier hardware supply issues are having a knock-on effect on software sales and subscriptions, which are vital for the company to build a “virtuous cycle” of mutually reinforcing console and game sales.
# STRONG OVERALL FINANCIALS
CNBC reports that Sony’s financials were strong overall, with an operating profit of a record 1.21 trillion yen ($8.9 billion) for the year. Revenue in the quarter rose 35% to 3.06 trillion yen ($22.5 billion).
# CONSERVATIVE PROFIT FORECAST
Bloomberg calls Sony’s profit forecast for the current fiscal year “conservative,” hedging against a possible drop in consumer spending and expectations that it will sell fewer games from its in-house PlayStation Studios. The company expects operating profit to come in at around 1.17 trillion yen ($8.6 billion), which would represent a roughly 3% drop year-over-year.
Sources:
– Sony’s latest earnings release: https://www.sony.com/en/SonyInfo/IR/library/presen/er/archive.html
– Bloomberg article: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-28/sony-casts-doubt-on-ps5-momentum-with-disappointing-outlook?sref=ExbtjcSG
– CNBC article: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/28/sony-earnings-playstation-5-sales-hit-all-time-high-profit-hits-record.html
