The moment the eighth generation of the console market commenced, one console has done more damage on the wallets of gamers since its launch in late 2013. And it seems that trend remains. In an earnings report, Sony revealed that their current console the #PlayStation4 has shipped 60 million units worldwide as of march 2017.
The PS4 continues to dominate the console market
Although the number represents the amount of units that Sony has shipped to retailers since its launch in November 2013 as opposed to actual sales, it still means that the console continues to do well on the gaming market.
According to the annual output, 20 million PS4 consoles have been shipped within the 2016 fiscal year, a number which falls directly in line with Sony’s forecast back in May 2016. The number includes 2.9 millions sold in the last quarter of the fiscal year, which is a 13 percent increase over the 17.7 million units that were shipped back in fiscal 2015.
Or so it seems
Despite the success however, Sony's forecast for the current fiscal year is slightly underwhelming. The company predicts a 10 percent decrease in shipping numbers; 18 million PS4 units will be shipped by April 2018. This would put the console's lifetime sales at 78 million (2 million less than what the PlayStation 3 sold in its life cycle).
Optimistically, Sony still expects sales and operating income for the PlayStation division to significantly increase year-on-year as a result of increases in network sales. The company is forecasting sales to increase by 14.6 percent year-over-year and reach 1.89 trillion yen ($16.88 billion) in fiscal 2017. Operating income is also expected to increase by 25.4 percent and reach $1.52 billion.
Although Sony didn't disclose actual sales numbers of the PlayStation 4 Pro and PlayStation VR during the briefing, the company's chief financial officer Kenichiro Yoshida claimed that both devices continue to perform well on the gaming market.
What about the software?
During the briefing, Yoshida also revealed that major software for the PlayStation 4 are expected to be released later in the fiscal year 2017.These include first-party games such Gravity Rush, Detroit: Become Human, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, Dreams, Gran Turismo Sport, as well as third-party titles such as Prey, Destiny 2, Middle-earth: Shadow of War, Red Dead Redemption 2 and the recently revealed Call of Duty: WWII just to name a few.
