Sony has just posted its latest financial report, covering the third quarter of fiscal year 2019. This covers the holiday season, and it's pretty clear that PlayStation 4 sales are beginning to fall.
As you can see in Sony's presentation, sales were down 20 per cent year-on-year for its gaming sector. The company attributes this to a decrease in PS4 sales, as well as a reduction in sales for third party games. Sony sold 6.1 million PS4 consoles in Q3, which is the lowest it's been for a number of years. It puts the lifetime PS4 sales up to 108.9 million.
Sony will be expecting a decline in its PlayStation wing -- in fact it's lowered its forecast slightly -- as the current-gen console is now in its seventh year with its successor, the PS5, right around the corner. The platform holder could always see a small boost later in the year when PS4 games like The Last of Us: Part II and Ghost of Tsushima launch, but we think it's fair to say the machine is starting to wind down.
The PS5 will likely pick up the slack when it arrives at the end of 2020. Will you be purchasing the next-gen console at launch? Save up your pocket money in the comments below.
[source sony.net, via theverge.com]
Comments 23
It's been a great run, PS4.
I think that once the PS5 launches, the PS4 could be repurposed as the more attainable console and could play host to more family friendly titles going forward until the end of its production run.
Well with PS5 as close as it is and it being confirmed in an interview to be backwards-compatible with PS4, if you do not already own a PS4, you may as well wait until PS5.
For me though who already has a PS4, I think I will wait until PS5 gets cheaper, or they announce a pro model. I am in no rush; my backlog for PS4 is huge.
It's still good. I'd like to see comparisons with last few years of ps3 gen.
@MS7000
I see people saying they'd wait for a pro. Why would you need a pro though? I'm curious.
Impressive to say the least. I think lifetime sales end up around 125-130million. Another 10-12 before ps5 and maybe 5-10 post ps5
@BarefootBowser
Well 8k it's just support but I'm just going to buy a 4ktv soon like many and dont expect 8k to be standard any time soon.
Has to happen sooner or later
2020 will be a nice swan song for the PS4:
Final Fantasy VII Remake
The Last of Us Part II
Ghost of Tsushima
I should count Cyberpunk, but since it's multi-platform, so it's also a swan song game for Xbox One.
I really wish Sony would fully unveil the PS5 and discuss how it's going to handle potential cross-platform releases.
I'll be honest and say that I will be a tad miffed if Sony makes you buy cross-platform games again to experience the PS5 version (if you already invested in the PS4 version). I am almost wondering if Sony is going to stay silent for as long as possible until after these PS4 heavy-hitters are released only to announce them as PS5 launch titles for that very reason.
I love PlayStation, but I still don't trust the corporate money-making machine enough to "patch" a PS4 game to run the PS5 version (or download the PS5 version if you insert an applicable PS4 game into the system).
its time to stop the production of the ps4slim and start selling ps4pro at ps4slim price point. then do 3 games bundles with a year of psplus. that should boost their ps4 sales.
It's not really a contest, but the PS4 clearly "won" this generation of gaming. Thank you Sony for many years of entertainment. The PS5 will likely be just as successful, as well as enjoyable.
If the price is right then PS5 is day one for me.
I would had thought every man and his dog has a PS4, but you could had said that a year ago and it still sold strong.
I can see the PS4 selling still after PS5.
Unless there are some simply must have launch games I probably wont be a day one adopter. Guess we'll have to wait and see on that one.
For me the main selling point of a new console is the graphical leap.
PS1 to PS2 was a big jump.
PS2 to PS3 was a massive jump
PS3 to PS4 wasn't quite as big but still a justifiable improvement.
PS4 to PS5???? Who knows but from what little info we have, it suggests that the graphical leap wont be that great this time.
To be fair that's understandable because they already look so life like as it is.
@BarefootBowser @SaikoWaifu2003 I think it's still important for VR. I'm more curious about the leap of VR than the actual system, since VR seems to be kinda like a generation behind in terms of graphics. If that makes any sense.
My pocket is ready for ps5 (as long as the max price is no more than $500)
@Marios-love-child I think ps5 will be more quality of life improvement over ps4, with fast storage and ram, it will be at least as fast as going from ps3 to ps4 I think. I still remember after playing ps4, I don't want to play ps3 again, not from the graphics but from the slowness of ps3 overall performance (in installing games, etc).
From the graphics side, I'm okay with ps5 having ps4 graphics but with 4k, 60 fps, and no / faster loading times. I do think we'll be getting a generation leap and not just 4k / 60 fps upgrade in games graphics though, because unlike ps3 to ps4, devs doesn't have to learn new environment, the ps5 still using pc cpu like ps4.
@BarefootBowser @JJ2 I should probably clarify. If the base model was cheap enough, I probably would just buy a PS5 and have done with it. But given that both PS4 and Xbox One had upgraded models, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to assume a pro is being made. I do not necessarily need a Pro specifically, especially since I do not know what this hypothetical Pro would offer, but I would rather just have the best variant of the console from the start than buy multiple variants of the console.
There is a possibility that the Pro would not happen as pointed out, in which case, the PS5 should be cheaper by that point anyway.
I won't be buying a PS5 at launch for a simple reason: it's going to be massively overpriced in Poland (where I live). I'll wait for a price reduction in circa 2 years. More games will have arrived by then as well.
@MS7000
Yea I've just been happy with OG PS4 for 6 years and never needed a pro. Now going to 4k for ps5 I just dont see the point for more upgrade for many many years considering ps5 should easily handle 4k
Not surprised, time to get ready for the PS5.
@Marios-love-child. Ps1 to ps2 was a big jump.look at resident evil 3.vs resident 4.final fantasy 7.vs final fantasy x .ps2 to ps3.ratchet and clank vs ps3 ratchet and clank.god of war vs ps3 god of war 3.ps3 to ps4.infamous 2.vs infamous second son.uncharted 3 to 4.big jump.word up son
The PS4 is looking expensive for this point in its life cycle. Both its competitors are produced strip down consoles at a lower price. Microsoft with the Xbox one sad and Nintendo with the switch light. When PS4 shrinks down into a smaller cheaper form again sales may well pick up.
@Ryall - even with two cheaper variants, the XB1 is selling about 1/4 of the PS4.. so price is not the main reason for the dip in sales imo. PS4 seems to have had some kind of spike in jan of last year (can't remember what came out though), so the year-to-year to drop is unusually large.
Sony have shifted over 106 million PS4s so chances are if you wanted one, you've got one.
Be interested to know how many of the recent sales are people upgrading to a Pro.
With a backwards compatible PS5 around the corner, of course sales are going to drop.
Time to reposition the base PS4 to a £150 price point (possible case redesign?) any stocks of the Pro for about £250 and the Pro's future would probably depend on the price point for the PS5.
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