PS5 hits 61m as Sony’s year-on-year Q1 hardware sales fall but operating income rises

PlayStation 5 has now passed 61 million units sold, despite having a relatively quiet three-month period.

In Sony‘s latest financial results covering the Q1 period for its financial year 2024 (the period between April 1 and June 30), the company says 2.4 million PS5 consoles were sold.

This is down on the 3.3 million PS5 consoles sold during the Q1 period last year, but nevertheless brings the total number of PS5 sales to date up to 61.7 million.

The results were generally positive for Sony’s gaming division overall, with Q1 sales in the ‘Games & Network Services’ segment up 12% year-on-year and operating income up 32% (from ¥49.2b / $335m up to ¥65.2b / $443m).

In its summary, Sony attributes the year-on-year increase to the impact of foreign exhange rates, the increase in sales of first-party game software titles and the “increase in sales from network services, mainly PlayStation Plus”.

However, it does acknowledge a “decrease in sales of hardware due to a decrease in unit sales”.

Despite an overall increase in income from software sales, Sony also reports that software unit sales are down year-on-year, with 53.6 million units sold in Q1 2024 compared to 565 million units during the same period last year.

It also reports that the digital download ratio for Q1 was 80% digital vs 20% physical, compared to an average of 70% in FY2023.

As a result of its Q1 figures, Sony has revised its forecast for the gaming division for its financial year 2024 (April 2024 – March 2025), adjusting its sales and operating income forecasts up by 3%.

Tokyo-based industry consultant Dr Serkan Toto told VGC: “Given Sony is going through a rather silent 2024 software-wise, the numbers actually look quite solid.

“For instance, you can see the positive effect on sales from the price increase for PlayStation Plus in their numbers.

“The big weak spot, however, is hardware sales. The year on year drop is not surprising but quite significant. Sony can only hope that Astro Bot or the one or other new game