Sony’s beloved PlayStation 4 has soared to new heights. A recent financial report by the company has revealed that Sony has shipped over 100 million PlayStation 4 units worldwide.
Despite having been released 2013, the console continues to enjoy significant popularity, as other recently-recorded data reveals. Indeed, the earnings report shows us that 3.2 million PlayStation 4 consoles were sold to retailers worldwide in the period dated March 31 to June 30.
These truly are huge numbers but, Sony expects them to wind down next year. While the date hasn’t been set, the PS5 is expected to launch sometime in 2020. During the timeframe from April 1 this year to March 31, 2020, Sony will sell 15 million units, which is 1 million fewer than they previously thought.
PlayStation 4 shipments were down this fiscal year, with the data showing 17.8 million shipped. This is down from 19 million the previous year.
The report also confirms something that may not surprise a lot of people – digital downloads are outpacing physical copies of games. Fifty-three percent of PlayStation 4 console owners purchase titles digitally.
Meanwhile, in the world of smartphones, Sony has seen revenue decrease. In the last quarter, the company’s smartphone revenues dropped by 15 percent. This, unfortunately, follows a gradual decline in sales for these items as Sony only sold 900,000 smartphones last year, which is less than half the number of smartphones it did last year. In fact, the total units sold last year were half of 2017’s, while this year’s smartphone sales are half of 2018’s. Not quite on the PlayStation 4 selling level.
Yet, Sony’s imaging division continues to perform well. Sales of its digital cameras (like the A7 Mirrorless camera, for example) did falter somewhat, but given that smartphone camera technology is getting more advanced, this is hardly surprising. Regardless, Sony remains one of the most profitable camera companies out there.
