Today Sony announced its financial results for the third quarter of the fiscal year 2019, which relates to the period between October 1 and December 31, 2019.
First of all, we get an update on the PS4 units shipped during the quarter. 6.1 million units were purchased by retailers worldwide, which means that the grand total as of December 31 is at 108.9 million units.
Below you can check out an overview of the performance of the Game & Network Services business (which includes PlayStation and PlayStation Network)
Sales were “significantly” down (20%) year-on year due to a decrease in PS4 hardware sales and third-party software sales.
Operating income was also down year on year (with a “significant” 19.6 billion yen decrease in profits) due to lower third-party software sales partly offset by higher PlayStation Plus sales.
While the forecast for PS4 units that Sony predicts shipping for the whole fiscal year remained the same at 13.5 million units (which would bring the total to 110.3 million units by March 31, 2020) , the outlook for overall sales has been dropped by 50 billion yen (3%) due to lower-than-expected sales of third-party games. The outlook for operating income has also been cut by 5 billion yen for the same reason, partly offset by cost reductions.
It’s worth mentioning that this isn’t out of the ordinary, considering that the PS4 is nearing the end of its cycle, with PS5 scheduled to come in less than a year.
It also doesn’t mean that PlayStation is losing money. It’s simply making less than in the same period last year.
We also get further details of the gaming business’ performance showing that the PlayStation Plus subscriber total is now at 38.8 million.
Speaking of Sony as a whole, all income numbers are firmly in the black, but show a drop in operating income year-on-year, while sales increased.
If you’d like to compare, you can read our dedicated article about the previous financial results announced in October.
