Sony said in its earnings report today that it sold 4.5 million PlayStation 5 consoles in the holiday quarter ended December 31.
In the third-fiscal quarter, the company also said it sold 1.4 million older PlayStation 4 consoles. Total revenue for the quarter for the Game and Network Services division was 883.2 billion yen, or $8.4 billion, compared with $6.01 billion a year ago for the same period.
Game software revenue was $4.6 billion, while game hardware revenue was $2.28 billion. Network services and other revenue made up the remainder of the division’s sales. Operating income was $763 million in the quarter.
Sony said that it saw a significant increase in software sales and add-on content in the quarter as well as a boost in hardware sales thanks to the PS5 launch. But it noted that earnings were reduced in part by selling the PS5 at “strategic price points” that were lower than manufacturing costs. Sony’s sales numbers were “sell-in,” or inventory sold to retailers, as opposed to “sell-through” numbers which are those purchased by gamers.
Sony predicted a slightly higher sales for its fiscal year ending March 31, with revenue up 1% higher than previously expected. The PS5 went on sale in mid-November in a head-to-head competition against Microsoft and its Xbox Series X/S consoles.
In a presentation, Sony the company is on track to meet its fiscal year goal (ending March 31) of more than 7.6 million units. But Sony said it has not been to fully meet the high level of demand from customers. Engagement with PlayStation in December was 39% higher than the same month a year earlier.
Moreover, as of the end of December, 87% of PS5 users were subscribers to PlayStation Plus. Sony also said it sold through more than 4.1 million copies of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales by the end of December.
[Updated 12:52 p.m. on 2/3/21 with additional Sony presentation info].