Sony ships 9.7 million PS4 units during Q3, chugs towards PS3 lifetime sales

There is little doubt that PlayStation is the leading division within Sony. Not only is PlayStation massively profitable and likely keeping many other divisions under Sony afloat, but it’s also the only part of Sony that continues to bring in large sale volumes. For the period between October 1 and December 31, 2016, Sony managed to ship 9.7 million PS4 units. Compared to the quarter a year ago when Sony shipped 8.4 million units, that’s an increase of 1.3 million units, impressive when you consider the PS4 isn’t getting any newer, unless we take PS4 Pro into account. Chief Financial Officer Kenichiro Yoshida:

 PS4 Pro is running as we had assumed, but Pro maybe is doing more than we anticipated 

For another comparison, PS3 sold 80 million units as of November 2013 and PS4 is already nearing 60 million units. At its current pace, by the end of 2017, PS4 will have matched seven years of PS3 sales in just four years. Many analysts believe before Sony retires the PS4 for whatever comes next, that the console will pass 100 million units sold and at this pace, there is little reason to doubt that.

From GameStop:

 despite a strong performance from Sony’s Game & Network Services division, which includes the PlayStation brand. G&NS recorded a 5.2 percent increase in sales to $5.325 billion for the three months ending December 31, 2016. Sony attributes the year-on-year increase to a rise in PS4 software sales and the contribution of PlayStation VR after its launch in October.

Meanwhile profits for the Game & Network Services division were up 24.5 percent, helped by “PS4 hardware cost reductions,” says Sony. 

Q3 FY2016 (year-on-year)

 Sales: 5.2% increase (FX Impact: -10%)

  • (+) Increase in PS4 software sales including sales through the network
  • (+) Contribution of PlayStation VR
  • (–) Impact of foreign exchange rates
  • (–) Impact of price reduction for PS4 hardware

 OI: 9.9 bln yen increase (FX Impact: +1.4 bln yen)

  • (+) PS4 hardware cost reductions
  • (+) Increase in PS4 software sales including sales through the network
  • (–) Effects of price reduction for PS4 hardware

FY2016 Forecast (change from November forecast)

 Sales: 3.1% upward revision

  • (+) Impact of foreign exchange rates

 OI: Remains unchanged from the November forecast