In a nutshell: Sony has launched its monetary outcomes for the final quarter. While sport gross sales have been up in comparison with the identical interval a yr earlier, PlayStation 5 gross sales have been down by 1.3 million items—an impact of the chip scarcity that also plagues the tech trade.
Sony offered two million PS5 items within the fourth quarter of its monetary yr 2021. That brings general gross sales of the console to 19.3 million, however it’s nonetheless down from the three.3 million items it offered in the identical quarter a yr earlier. Additionally, Sony reviews that 11.5 million PlayStation 5 machines have been offered all through the monetary yr, considerably fewer than the 14.8 million it had initially deliberate—an quantity that might have seen the PS5 match or outsell the variety of PS4s on the similar level in its lifecycle.
The drawback is not lack of demand, after all; it is the worldwide chip scarcity that continues to hamper Sony’s efforts at securing elements for its console. Nintendo has warned that the Switch may endure the identical points later this yr.
Sony can take some solace in the truth that it was a great quarter for PS4 and PS5 sport gross sales with 70.5 million titles offered, up from 61.4 million one yr in the past. That determine consists of 14.5 million first-party video games. However, full-year sport gross sales fell to 303.2 million items from 338.8 million a yr earlier, however the 2020 lockdowns did give the gaming trade a large increase.
PlayStation Plus subscriber numbers have been down YoY barely to 47.4 million in March 2022 from 47.6 million in March 2021, and the PlayStation Network’s month-to-month energetic customers dropped from 111 million to 106 million.
Sony does imagine issues will enhance within the subsequent quarter attributable to higher part provides and extra third-party sport gross sales. It can even be launching its Xbox Game Pass-rivalling PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium companies.
