Sony sells record sales of PlayStation 5, but can it extend this success?
TOKYO: Sony Group Corp said on Friday that PlayStation 5 sales would rise by 6 million units this year, but forecast its profit would fall from a record high as weaker financial services sales offset revenue from games, music and movies.
The Japanese company said it expects operating profit to fall 3.2 percent to 1.17 trillion yen ($8.65 billion) in the year to March 31, below the average analyst estimate of 1.275 trillion yen, according to Refinitiv data.
However, the improved performance of its gaming unit comes as a relief to the entertainment and electronics conglomerate after it struggled to produce enough PlayStation 5 game consoles to meet demand during the COVID-19 pandemic due to disruptions in the semiconductor supply chain.
“We can now ship PlayStation 5 almost everywhere in the world without having to wait for our customers,” Sony Group CEO Hiroki Totoki said at a press conference after the company announced the results.
Sony, which competes with Xbox maker Microsoft Corp and Switch supplier Nintendo Co Ltd, said it sold a record 25 million PlayStation 5 (PS5) consoles this year, up from 19.1 million in the previous 12 months and more than double . it sold it the previous year.
For this business year, the company predicts that the profit of its gaming and online unit will increase by 8% to 270 billion yen. It said it expects results from its music and imaging divisions to be slightly higher, with financial services revenue to fall by a fifth.
Sony also predicted that image sensor sales would fall 5.8% to ¥200 billion.
Operating profit for the three months ended March 31 fell 7.3% to 128.5 billion yen, and full-year operating profit rose to a record 1.21 trillion yen, the company said.
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