Kaz Hirai's a popular character among gamers – but he's clearly an incredible businessman as well. After years of financial losses, the ex-PlayStation executive finally appears to have steadied Sony's ship, with the company reporting a profit for the fourth quarter in a row. Given that we'd gotten used to the Japanese giant making losses, this is quite the feat.
The massively successful PlayStation 4 is, of course, leading the charge, with an absolutely staggering 29.3 million units shipped since its release in November 2013. Launch aligned, that's almost double what the PlayStation 3 could muster, and even more than the PlayStation 2. This data is also accurate as of 30th September, so doesn't take into account the recent price drop.
The Game and Network Services division – in which PlayStation lives – garnered sales totalling ¥360.7 billion ($3 billion), up approximately 16.5 per cent year-over-year. Hardware sales increased by 4.8 per cent, but there was massive growth in network sales – with income rising by 56.8 per cent. This, of course, includes the PlayStation Store – but also the wider Sony Entertainment Network portfolio, too.
As expected, PS3 software sales did decline, but this downward trend was offset by a significant increase in PS4 software sales. All in all, despite continued shrinkages in its mobile division, the tech giant registered a ¥33.6 billion ($278 million) profit – an enormous improvement over the ¥136 billion loss it reported last year. Things are looking up, then.
[source sony.net, via bbc.co.uk, vg247.com, eurogamer.net]
Comments 36
It's SOLD, not SHIPPED. That's according to some business articles I've read.
There's a difference. Just thought I'd say.
KING Kaz
@JimmyRowe1994 I know: "Almost 30 million PS4s shipped"; "The massively successful PlayStation 4 is, of course, leading the charge, with an absolutely staggering 29.3 million units shipped since its release in November 2013".
This debate has always been ridiculous, though. Do you think that stores order loads of stock to just sit in warehouses? There are rare instances of channel stuffing, but typically the shipped numbers aren't that much higher than install base.
Given that Sony's expecting another bumper shipment in Q3, we can safely assume that these consoles are being sold to consumers - otherwise it wouldn't need to replenish stocks.
Well deserved. Should eclipse 3ds by 2018.
@get2sammyb Does this mean that the PS4 has now taken the top spot for the highest selling system of all time, or does it still have a little ways to go. Even if it's not the number one system, I think before it's lifespan ends, it will probably be.
@JLPick It's trending behind the Wii, but will likely have a longer lifespan. It will fall behind the PS2 eventually, though — well, unless they can continue getting the price down.
MS must have heard about the 30 million shipped and decided to stop publishing their own figures.
@get2sammyb That's a very valid point. It's exciting to see this much enthusiasm for the PlayStation 4. I believe these high sales numbers are what's resulting in great games such as The Last Guardian, Shenmue III and the Final Fantasy VII Remake.
Keep it moving, Sony. Congratulations!
I haven't regretted my PS4 purchase. It's my primary console just like the last three PlayStation systems were. Wow.. Sony did their homework this time around.
"Consoles are dead"
"Dedicated game devices are dead"
"mobile will rule everything"
"The Next generation PC will rule"
"Single player is dead"
"Every game will be online"
"Masterace"
@Frank90 Basically! Consoles are clearly still very healthy in the West, although the PS4 isn't exactly doing great in Japan, so the mobile argument does haver some weight there.
Woohoo
Never underestimate the power of PlayStation ...
Seriously though, hopefully as consumers we see some benefit from this, such as Sony invest in older games that helped them to such successes?? Wipeout vr maybe ?? As looks like Sony have a large install bass for psvr ...
Sony might have almost shipped 30 million PS4s but I hear Microsoft have monitored that over 30 million people have press the "X" button on the keyboard in the last month alone, so I'm afraid Microsoft wins this one.
If they had made the Xbox just as powerfull as the PS4 for gaming and not tried all that "entertainment hub" approach and that crappy motion sensor that I can't even remember the name of, then I doubt PS4 would be doing nearly as well. I think it's more down to MS's screw up's than Sony's doing amazing buisness that the PS4 is where it is now. The Kinect lol that sucked I never even unwrapped mine...
I'm going to buy a second ps4 for the bedroom at Christmas. Every little helps
That's great, I just hope the massive growth in network sales doesnt go to their heads.
@xMEADx So what you're saying is: "If everything was different, things would be different."
Your post ignores the fact that PlayStation is a global brand whereas Xbox is only really relevant in two countries. Even if Microsoft hadn't messed up, I'd wager that the PS4 would still be on top. The gap probably would have been slightly smaller, though, you're quite correct.
@get2sammyb PS4 might very well still be on top but if MS didn't screw up their console then PS4 wouldn't be doing as well as it is now ,alot of these new number's have come from people switching over myself included, I paid for Xbox live for 10 years even I couldn't stomach the Xbox1 and as I can't afford to keep both so I had to choose one, the reason I jumped had nothing whatsoever to do with Sony's exclusive's and certainly not for PS+'s "free game's", it was simply down to the poor Xbox1 and I suspect it was the same for most. They guaranteed a one horse race when they released XBOX1 is all i'm saying.
@xMEADx Your comments are fair, but I really think you're underrating how strong the PlayStation brand is in countries such as Germany. The PS4 is absolutely demolishing the competition there - and that's more down to long standing loyalty than other circumstances.
What you're saying has contributed to the success of the PS4 for sure, but it's not the overwhelming deal breaker that you're making it out to be.
Great figures! At least the Wii U has just broken the dreaded Dreamcast figure.
@get2sammyb exactly. Sony has always had a stranglehold in europe, while ms had the north american hold. Ms blunder cost them north america for the most part, which is a large reason why the ps4 is cranking out sales. North america kept the xbox 360 sales looking very good, all the meanwhile ps3 was staying neck and neck due to its popularity overseas.
@get2sammyb your right it help's but it isn't a deal breaker. Loving PSN anyway the community suit's me more i've made more friend's that I actualy speak to in the 2 years i've been here than in the whole 10 years on Live Glad to see PS4 doing well they certainly smashed ahead when the saw MS slip GJ.
@get2sammyb figured I'd ask you, do you have legit numbers all top 10 selling gaming consoles? also games too? I'm really curious what these numbers are.
@xMEADx @get2sammyb
I think the only territory where the 'MS shot itself in the foot' argument holds weight is North America. MS dominated this market last gen, in fact I believe 360 eventually surpassed Wii sales totals here, so all the momentum was on its side for this gen. That said, what allowed the 360 to be so popular was after two generations of crushing the competition like no other company ever had, Sony shot itself in the foot at every turn with the PS3. Even in NA I knew more people who initially wanted PS3 and were waiting for that as opposed to buying a 360. Than E3 2006 happened and the rest is history. Of course, instead of capitalizing on a strength, everybody at MS was given their dose of stupid that execs at all companies get after doing well with a product and they screwed things up massively with the X1 reveal. Very pathetic that there isn't a single company out there who does smart things after becoming dominant.
Which me into what I want to say about these numbers. It's great that the platform is healthy because it should mean more games. Unfortunately the competition hasn't been as strong this gen and has allowed Sony to slack on some things. Overall Sony has done more right than wrong but there are still things that need fixing. PS Network still isn't as stable as it should be for something that is now paid for (2015 has been better than 2014 when there was a story a week though, so there is that) and little things like changing your username or external harddrive support exactly like X1 have also need to be added and immediately as far as I'm concerned. But Sony doesn't have to do any of that if it doesn't want to because it is so far ahead right now despite MS doing pretty much every in its power to try and get back into this. Nintendo hasn't helped provide competition either since it bungled the Wii U from the start and has now clearly given up on making Wii U a success and is shifting focus to NX.
Now if we can get a few more first party games sooner than later, that'd be great.
The more consoles that are bought, the more games we can expect them to make for this system.
I find the lack of pie charts disturbing.
30 million haha suck it ms. Suck it mattrick. Suck it master chief.
Losers.!
Great news love my ps4!
I have never personally owned an xbox, any iteration, but I have also never felt like I was missing out on anything. Have always felt that Sony has the most "must have" first party titles. I reckon that's why the playstation brand is always successful, that, and an insane amount of variety.
@wittypixel Off the top of my head, I believe it's PS2, PSone, Wii, PS3, Xbox 360 — I think the latter two are essentially neck and neck, though. It could be Xbox 360 on top, as PS3 has died out much quicker than 360 in US/UK.
@themcnoisy YouTube comments are thattaway >
@themcnoisy
Hey, what did Master Chief ever do to you?
@Kage_88 and we have a bite. I've got a 100k gamerscore and ms really annoyed me with the x1. Terrible company Drm this, license that, kinect needed etc etc PS4 all the way!!!
@Gamer83 He let me down with Halo 4 - after Reach the game was a let down.
@JLPick Eh, what? It's about 125 million sales behind the best selling of all time.
@xMEADx I think it's more about how bad the 360 ended up being. It really fizzled out quite pathetically as it went on. Even at its strongest point, it lost a lot of appeal if you didn't like being a military American shooting aliens. In 2013 the only exclusive the 360 had was that Gears of War game not made by Epic - unless you want to inlclude a few XBLA (LocoCycle, F2P game Ascend New Gods) games that were usually only exclusive for a short time, or also on Windows.
In the same year, PS3 had Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk, The Last of Us, Beyond: Two Souls, Disgaea D2, Dragon's Crown (shared with Vita), God of War Ascension, MLB The Show, Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory, Ni no Kuni, Puppeteer, Sly Cooper Thieves in Time, Tales of Xillia, Time and Eternity, The Guided Fate Paradox, and Gran Turismo 6.
Not saying all those games are amazing, but there's a great spread of genres and tastes there all compared to some trashy XBLA crap and another dudebro shooter. Let's check out LocoCycle, something 360 owners may have been playing while PS3 owners played Gran Turismo 6.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xt3pFWHEpzU
@get2sammyb Stores tend to stay well stocked, so worldwide there are always usually a one to two million units sitting on store shelves, so the difference is important. Not as important now that we are in the 30+ million (The difference between 30 and 31 million is relatively small) but it was very important when we were talking single digit millions.
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