77.8 million PS5s sold: Sony considers price increases and US production

77.8 Million PS5s Sold: Sony Considers Price Increases and US Production 27 comments

77.8 Million PS5s Sold: Sony Considers Price Increases and US Production

Image: Sony

Sony sold 2.8 million PlayStation 5 units in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2024, bringing the total to 18.5 million units for the full year and 77.8 million consoles since its initial market launch. Due to Trump’s tariffs, Sony is considering price increases and US production. The company ended the fourth fiscal quarter of 2024 with revenue of 2,630.2 billion yen (16.04 billion euros) and fiscal year 2024 with 12,957.1 billion yen (79.04 billion euros), representing a decrease of 24% and 0.5%. The context is the poorly managed financial division compared to the previous year, which Sony plans to run in the first fiscal year of 2025 as a “discontinued operation” before an outsourcing as an independent subsidiary is planned for the second half of fiscal 2025.

Excluding the financial division, Sony’s sales stagnated in the fourth quarter and were down 7% year-to-date. The group’s operating profit improved in the fourth quarter by 11% to 203.6 billion yen (1.24 billion euros) or 6% to 215.2 billion yen (1.31 billion euros) (excluding the financial division). The operating profit for the year was 1,407.2 billion yen (8.58 billion euros) or 16% to 1,276.6 billion yen (EUROS).

Sony could pass on the costs of punitive tariffs

Summary :

Due to Trump’s punitive tariffs, Sony expects a negative impact of 100 billion yen (€609.7 million) on operating activity in fiscal 2025. During the conference call for investors and analysts following the quarterly results, Sony CEO Hiroki Totoki also sought to consider PlayStation 5 production in the United States. US production is entirely possible and would be an effective strategy in the meantime, Totoki explained.

CFO Lin Tao did not mention the PlayStation 5 in the call, but explained that Sony plans to continue passing on the increased costs of punitive tariffs to consumers so as not to negatively impact the base. In order not to increase the price of the game console, there could therefore also be price increases in other areas of the group. In the United States, Sony hasn’t recently adjusted the price of the game console; it costs $449.99 without and $499.99 with tax. The PS5 Pro sells for $699.99 in the United States. In Europe, Sony last increased the price of the PS5 from €449.99 to €499.99 on April 13. In Australia and New Zealand, the price of the variant with tax has also been adjusted upwards. The game console originally launched for €399.99, so it now costs 25% more than four and a half years ago.

GTA 6 will no longer be available for Sony’s 2025 fiscal year.

Sony sold 2.8 million PS5 units in the fourth quarter, a 38% decrease from less than a year ago. For the full year, the decline from 20.8 million units to 18.5 million amounts to 11%. Sony expects 15 million PS5 units for fiscal 2025. The postponement of GTA 6 from fall 2025 to May 2026 is also expected to have a negative impact. This means the title falls entirely outside Sony’s 2025 fiscal year. In total, Sony has sold 77.8 million PS5s since launch.