Due to a decline in the financial services division, Sony reported a 7% decrease in annual profit for the fiscal year 2023. The company narrowly missed its forecast for the annual sales volume of the PS5 gaming console.
Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that as of March 31, 2024, 59.3 million PlayStation 5 consoles had been sold. By the end of December, 59.3 million PS5 consoles had been sold, indicating that 4.5 million PS5 units were sold from January to March. This represents a decrease of 1.8 million in console shipments compared to the same quarter last year.
Sony stated that it sold 20.8 million PS5 units in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024. This marks an increase of 1.7 million units compared to the previous fiscal year, where 19.1 million units were sold. However, overall, the PS5 console sold fewer units than the PS4; as of March 31, 59.3 million PS5 units were sold worldwide, while during the PS4 era (as of March 31, 2017), sales reached 60.2 million.
Increase in Game Sales
Sony also revealed that total game sales for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 in this quarter amounted to 72.6 million. This figure increased by 4.6 million compared to the same period last year. It was noted that digital sales accounted for 77% of software sales. A total of 12.3 million first-party games were sold for PS5 and PS4, representing an increase of 2.8 million compared to the previous year.
Rise in PlayStation Network Users
The monthly active user count on PlayStation Network reached 118 million, an increase of 10 million. Sony did not disclose the number of PlayStation Plus subscribers. It was at 47.4 million as of March 2023. Sony’s Game and Network Services segment generated revenue of $27.27 billion for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, an increase of $3.98 billion from the previous year. Operating profit also increased from $0.26 billion to $1.85 billion.
Sony anticipates a decline in PlayStation revenue due to decreased hardware sales but believes that this decline will be partially offset by an increase in third-party sales and DLC sales.
Sony identified the financial services business as the main segment contributing to the decrease in profit. The financial services division recorded operating revenue of $1.1 billion in 2023, marking a 22.5% decrease compared to the strong growth in 2022. The company also experienced a decline in the Imaging & Sensing Solutions (I&SS) business, which saw a 9% decrease in operating revenue, reaching $1.2 billion compared to 2022.
