Hardware shortages around the world have affected industries of all kinds. PC gamers were particularly hard hit by lack of parts, which also affected console production. Sony’s latest console, PlayStation 5, has been notoriously difficult to grab, and it does not appear to be normalizing until around 2024.
In Sony’s latest financial presentation (opens in new tab)(spotted by Eurogamer (opens in new tab)), the company acknowledged the issues with the offering when it comes to PS5 sales. The presentation included a slide show showing the comparable sales for PS4 and PS5 consoles. While the PS5 sold the older PS4 in its first year, it lagged behind the following year due to supply constraints. Sony also increased its PS4 production due to the shortage (opens in new tab)which probably helped.
The graph continues to show Sony’s projections for year three, hoping to close the gap between PS4 and PS5 sales. This means that Sony does not expect PlayStation 5 to resume the top position for the company’s console sales before 2024. This also happens when Intel’s CEO believes that the chip shortage can finally ease up. (opens in new tab).
Both Covid and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine were cited as continuing barriers to increasing supply, so Sony’s current strategy involves procurement from several different suppliers. Given the problems hampering Sony’s sales, it seems to be around supply, rather than demand, it makes sense for the company to do everything it can to close this gap.
And Sony has plenty of incentives to make sure the PS5 does well. Apart from console sales alone, the financial report shows that there is a clear increase in game sales when consoles are available. There’s also the new PlayStation VR 2 (opens in new tab) it will be a huge improvement over the previous virtual reality efforts and will need the PS5 to run it.
But this is also a testament to the strong lifespan of the PS4, especially compared to the PS3 before it. These reports show that digital PS4 sales, including those in Free to Play games, make up a fair share of Sony’s profits with games like Fortnite and Genshin Impact known for their financial contributions. With the PS5 still potentially 2 years away from meeting PS4 sales, those numbers may not change for a while yet.