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PS5 launch sales surpass PS4’s even with stock shortages
Sales of the PS5 are on a roll as Sony’s sales figures show the console has outperformed the PS4 when it comes to launch sales.
On 28 April, Sony published its financial results for the fourth quarter ending 31 March.
During the last two quarters, Sony sold 7.8 million PS5 consoles. That means the console overtakes the PS4 in sales during its own debut period which sold 7.6 million units in the first two quarters, according to Sony sales figures.
However, PS4 consoles are still selling. During those same two quarters, Sony shipped 2.4 million units of the previous-generation console.
The financial results show Sony’ Games & Network Services division was the company’s most lucrative in 2020. The division brought in annual revenue of over 2.656 billion Yen (R346 billion).
Besides PS5 sales, what did the results show?
The latest sales figures mean Sony surpassed its expectations for PS5 sales. In October 2020, Sony’s Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki told Bloomberg that the company was aiming for 7.6 million shipments by the end of March this year.
This despite several factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic and a reported shortage in critical parts.
Sony has previously said it hopes the PS5 will surpass the PS4 again in sales during the second financial year. In 2014, Sony sold 14.8 million PS4 consoles.
During Q3 2020 and Q1 2021, Sony sold 61.9 million PS5 and PS5 games. Of those, 7.9 million were first-party exclusives. This is out of a total of 338.9 million games sold during the whole 2020 financial year.
Sony noted that 66% of games sold during the period were digital downloads.
Sony is also seeing constant growth in the number of PlayStation Plus subscribers. As of 31 March, the platform has 47.6 million subscribers, up from 45 million at the start of the financial year.
At the same time, the company has 109 million monthly active users on the PlayStation Network.
Feature image: Sony
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