Sony Has Already Sold Over 7.5 Million PS5 Consoles Despite Shortages

Sony has released its Q4 report for 2020, the last report of the financial year, and it would seem that the company has done well, selling millions of PS5 consoles in the last quarter alone.

Sony Has Sold 7.8 Million PS5 Consoles

According to its latest financial report, available via the Sony.com Earnings Releases page, the PS5 has sold just under 8 million units worldwide.

The actual figure is 7.8 million in total. Sony shifted 4.5 million PS5 consoles in its launch quarter, and 3.3 million in Q4 2020, which (confusingly for those who aren't financially or mathematically astute, like myself) ran until March 31st 2021 at 11:59 pm.

Not a bad console launch for Sony, then.

PlayStation Makes Sony Over $3 Billion in 2020

PlayStation has earned Sony $3.14 billion in the space of a year. This figure consists not only of PS5 consoles, though. It covers the entire ecosystem. So, that means any PlayStation 4, PS4 Pro, and PS5 consoles Sony has shifted in that time. Not only that, but it also includes games and other network profit (such as PS Plus subscriptions).

This is a record for Sony. According to Matt Piscatella (Director of game industry analysis brand The NPD Group), the PS5 is the fastest selling console in US history. All despite the impact of COVID and the supply chain/logistics problems it has caused.

US NPD HW - PlayStation 5 is the fastest selling console in U.S. history in both unit and dollar sales (lifetime sales with five months on the market).
— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) April 16, 2021

So, who actually bought all these consoles?

Was It Just Gamers Who Contributed to the PS5's Success?

Unlikely. People are still struggling to get hold of a PS5 because of several factors. While we relate some of those to the manufacturing process, there is one other major reason; scalpers.

Since the launch of the PS5, social media has been rife with reports of scalpers selling PS5 consoles at ridiculous prices (they don't stop at consoles, scalpers are flipping chairs on eBay now as well).

However, this doesn't really matter in terms of unit sales for Sony. It has sold 7.8 million consoles, why should it care who too?

Well, because if a console is sitting in a warehouse and not a gamer's room, then it makes no money for Sony post-sale. Nobody is buying games for it, or subscribing to Sony's services via the console. It is dead money and Sony should do more about it.

A Phenomenal Success for PlayStation 5

Everything said, this is a massive achievement for Sony and for the PlayStation 5. Semiconductor shortages and scalpers may have hindered and helped the process respectively, but the PS5 is only going to improve from here, and Sony will sell even more consoles.

source https://www.makeuseof.com/sony-sells-over-7-5-million-consoles/