Sony’s recent report on its financials for the 2018 fiscal year, which concluded on March 31, 2019, reveals steady sales for the PlayStation 4. Over the last three months alone, the company shipped a total of 2.6 million PlayStation 4 units worldwide. Interestingly, as of March 31st, this figure brings the total number of PS4s shipped since launch to 96.8 million. It’s worth noting that shipped only refers to number of consoles sold to retailers, and not the number sold-through to costumers. Still, this is an impressive feat, one that indicates 100 million PS4s will be in homes fairly soon.
Since the start of the 2018 fiscal year, starting in April 2018 and ending in March 2019, Sony has shipped approximately 17.8 million consoles. The company’s forecast for fiscal year 2019, beginning this April, predicts a decrease in hardware sale for the next 12 months. However, expectations remain relatively high. By March 2020, Sony expects to have shipped another 16 million PS4 units, which would then bring the grand total of shipments to 112.8 million. While a decrease in hardware sales is anticipated, the company predicts an increase in game software sales for fiscal year 2020.
The most recent word on PS4 hardware sales, in terms of units sold to consumers, is from late last year. As of December 31, 2018, PlayStation 4 sales had reached 91.6 million. With these numbers in mind, the Sony console is on track to outsell the Wii, which stands at roughly 101 million units sold and is the third best-selling home console of all-time. Once Wii sales are surpassed, the PS4s next target is the original PlayStation, whose sales exceed 102 million. The PS4 seems unlikely to best another of its predecessors, the PlayStation 2, which entered into a stratosphere all its own with 155 million consoles sold.
Recently, the big talk surrounding PlayStation, barring the newly released Days Gone, is news concerning the next-generation of PlayStation hardware. For now, said news only hints at the next PlayStation’s innards, backwards compatibility, and other bits of information, such as VR support.
[Source: Sony Global (1), (2), (3) via Twinfinite]
