Sony PlayStation 4 Cumulative Shipments Top 94 Million, Crushing All Rivals
Sony shipped 8.1 million units during their third financial quarter. This was 0.9 million units fewer than last year, but still a substantial number considering the Playstation 4 was released over five years ago. Sony maintains that they will sell 17.5 million units by the end of the financial year (March 31st).
The company’s holiday sales are no doubt partly due to the success of Marvel’s Spider-Man, which is the fastest selling game for the Playstation 4. The game was released this past September and 9 million units had already been sold globally by November. Sony cleverly offered a PlayStation 4 Slim 1TB Console - Marvel's Spider-Man Bundle during the holiday season. The system and the game bundle was $100 cheaper than if purchased separately.
Sony’s Game and Network Services was one of the few segments in the company that saw an increase in sales. Their quarter three financial reports noted that there are now more than 36.3 million Playstation Plus subscribers, or 2.1 million more than the previous fiscal year. PlayStation 4 software sold 87.2 million units, 37% of which were game digital downloads. This is also an increase from the last fiscal year.
Other Sony business segments appear to be suffering. Sony Pictures, Home Entertainment & Sound, Imaging Products & Solutions, and Financial Services all witnessed small decreases in sales. Sony’s Mobile Communications segment is particularly hurting. It is has been stated that Sony holds less than 1% of the global market share for mobile devices.
It will be interesting to see if Sony will be able to meet its goal of 17.5 million shipped units. Although highly-anticipated games Anthem and Devil May Cry 5 will be available on the Playstation 4 before the end of the fiscal year, most Playstation exclusive games will not be released until the end of 2019. 94 million units is a substantial number, but 17.5 million units by the end of the fiscal year may still be a lofty goal.