Sony shipped 4.5 million units of its PlayStation 5 game console worldwide in 2020, the Japanese electronics giant said along with the announcement of its latest earnings report.
Citing TheVerge, the figures highlight Sony’s current ability to mass-produce consoles, which have been very difficult to buy since its launch in November last year.
Meanwhile, PlayStation 4 demand fell dramatically year-over-year, with 1.4 million units shipped in the October to December 2020 quarter – a 77 percent decrease from the previous year. That figure is also smaller than in July to September 2020 quarter.
Overall, Sony’s gaming business performed significantly better than the previous year, with analyst Daniel Ahmad noting that the October-December 2020 quarter was the best quarter in PlayStation history.
Revenue increased 40 percent to 883.2 billion yen (around N3.179 trillion naira), partly driven by sales of the PS5. Operating profit rose 50 percent to 80.2 billion yen (around N288.715 billion naira) thanks to increased game sales, PlayStation Plus subscriptions and better margins on PS4 hardware.
Sony noted the costs associated with launching the PS5 were worth the profits, and also confirmed that the PS5 hardware itself is selling at a fraction of the cost of making it.
“The loss occurs because the strategic price point for PS5 hardware is set lower than the manufacturing costs,” said Sony.
Regardless, the PS5’s sales numbers are actually the same as the PS4, which also shipped 4.5 million units in its launch quarter.
Meanwhile, Microsoft didn’t release specific sales figures for the Xbox Series X or Series S. However, the US tech company said Xbox hardware revenue was up 86 percent year-on-year.
