Sony today revealed its Q1 financial report to shareholders, updating investors on the company’s current earnings between the months of April 1 and June 30, 2018. A key takeaway from the report pertains to the continued success of its PS4 console, as well as revised predictions forecasting an increase in hardware, software, and company revenue moving forward.
The PS4 has now shipped 82.2 million units as of June 30, an increase of 3.2 million since the last report. The overall pace is slowing somewhat, however, with the console selling 100,000 units less year-on-year with the opening quarter of last year. The drop is likely a result of the console’s maturity within its lifecycle.
Elsewhere, year-on-year revenue from last year has gone up, owed to increasing software sales via the network, which has, in turn, increased operating profit for the company.
Sony’s forecasted console sales have actually increased slightly since its last prediction, up by one million units. The PS4 is expected to hit 96 million units by March 2020. Revenue and operating profit are also expected to increase between now and the end of the fiscal year.
Sony’s report states:
“Sales are expected to be significantly higher than the April forecast primarily due to higher-than-expected PlayStation 4 (“PS4”) software sales including sales through the network, the impact of foreign exchange rates, as well as an expected increase in PS4 hardware unit sales. The forecast for operating income is expected to be significantly higher than the April forecast primarily due to the impact of the above-mentioned increase in sales.”
Software sales forecasts have also increased, which Sony attributes to “the fact that our first-party title God of War and other third-party titles are significantly exceeding expectations, and the titles we announced at E3 are receiving strong feedback.”
You can find the full report here.
