Today Sony announced its financial results for the first quarter of the fiscal year 2020, which relates to the period between April 1, 2020, and June 30, 2020.
First of all, we get an update on the PS4 units shipped during the latest quarter. 1.9 million units were purchased by retailers worldwide, which means that the grand total as of June 30 is at 112.2 million units.
[Update: Sony has made a sneak change to its PS4 sales figures for Q3 and Q4 of the fiscal year 2019, throwing the total calculation off by 100,000 units. The original article reported 112.3 million units and has been corrected to 112.2 million units.
Interestingly, the quarterly numbers add up to 13.4 million units for the fiscal year 2019, while the full fiscal year figure is reported as 13.5 million (while the previous report had a 13.6 million units figure). This means that the quarterly numbers are likely approximated downward, so we’re assuming the yearly figure is correct in our calculation of the total shipments.]
Below you can check out an overview of the performance of the Game & Network Services business (which includes PlayStation and PlayStation Network).
Both revenue and operating income have seen significant growth year-on-year due to a sizable increase in software and PlayStation Plus sales. On the other hand, PS4 hardware sales decreased year-on-year.
The forecast for the full fiscal year predicts a significant increase in software and hardware sales due to the launch of PS5. Operating income, on the other hand, should remain essentially flat year-on-year.
We also learn that sales of both The Last of Us Part II and Ghost of Tsushima are “trending well,” while Sony aims to expand user engagement in view of the launch of PlayStation 5.
“Although production of PlayStation 4 hardware was slightly impacted due to issues in the component supply chain, these issues have now been addressed. Sales of game software that is downloaded from the network, as well as PlayStation Plus (“PS Plus”) and PlayStation Now subscriber numbers, have significantly increased.
Regarding the launch of PlayStation 5 (“PS5”), although factors such as constraints due to employees working from home and restrictions on international travel remain, necessary measures are being taken and preparations are underway with the launch of the console scheduled for the 2020 holiday season.
At this time, no major problems have arisen in the game software development pipeline for Sony’s own first-party studios or its partners’ studios.”
Incidentally, further details about the gaming business’ performance reveal that the PlayStation Plus subscriber total was at 44.9 million as of June 30. On the other hand, PlayStation Network had 113 million monthly active users.
Speaking of Sony as a whole, all income numbers are in the black. Sales have increased while operating income slightly decreased year-on-year.
If you’d like to compare, you can read our dedicated article about the previous financial results announced in May.
