Sony nears 20 million PS5s sold and expects more supply this year

PlayStation 5 is at 19.3 million consoles sold so far this generation. As usual for the PS5, this is merely a measure of how many systems Sony is capable of producing. Demand is still far outstripping supply, and that isn’t going to change any time soon.

While Sony will likely struggle to meet demand through this year, a more reachable goal is meeting its internal estimations. For fiscal 2021, the company fell short of its forecast of shipping 14.8 million PS5s.

But Sony is indicating that it expects to produce more hardware this year compared to its last fiscal reporting period.

In an earnings report, Sony confirmed that its Game & Network Services Segment generated 2,739 billion yen ($20 billion) in revenue during fiscal 2021. That contributed to flat year-over-year profits of 346 billion yen ($2.65 billion). Positive factors included beneficial effects of foreign exchange rates and an increase in PlayStation hardware sales. Sony sold 7.8 million PlayStation 5s in fiscal 2020 as opposed to the 11.5 million in fiscal 2021. The company is also continuing to find ways to drive down the cost of producing the PS5.

Looking ahead, Sony expects to generate significantly more revenue in fiscal 2022. It also expects to take a hit to profitability. The company is telling investors that it expects to drive up sales with more PS5 consoles sales as well an increase in sales for non-first-party games. But the company also expects to spend more money to make games at its existing studios while also realizing the cost of acquiring Bungie. Those factors could cause a drag on profits.

But that is not much of a negative. Sony’s PlayStation business is more consistently profitable now than at any point in its history. And if the company is digging into those profits to invest in growing the segment in the future, investors likely will take that as a good sign for corporation’s long-term prospects.