Sony expects to sell four million fewer PlayStation 5 (PS5) consoles than expected in the 2023 fiscal year and says that the console is entering the “latter stages of its life cycle.”
Sony lowered its PS5 sales forecast from 25 million consoles to 21 million consoles for the 2023 fiscal year ending March 31st. The company’s revised PS5 sales expectations come with the release of its third-quarter earnings. In the release, Sony reported the PS5 sold a million units shorter than expected in its December quarter, selling 8.2 million consoles. These sales are up from last year’s third quarter when the company sold 6.3 million units.
It’s interesting to see that during the holiday season, Sony sold fewer than expected consoles, likely because a lot of people already own the PS5. Sony also released its new ‘PS5 Slim’ in November, offering a smaller redesign of its original PS5. Hardware-wise, the PS5 Slim is identical to its predecessor.
However, these numbers indicate that the slimmer, sleeker PS5 hasn’t resulted in higher console sales for Sony, with its senior vice president Naomi Matsuoka saying, “We expect the annual sales pace of PS5 hardware will start falling from the next fiscal year.”
The lower-than-expected hardware sales also come after a strong year games-wise for Sony. In October, the PS5-exclusive Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 released and sold 2.5 million copies in its first 24 hours. PlayStation said it’s now the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game. The game was also a top seller in Canada.
Sony now says it will focus on profitability over unit sales. “Looking ahead, PS5 will enter the latter stage of its life cycle,” said Naomi Matsuoka, a senior vice president at Sony. “As such, we will put more emphasis on the balance between profitability and sales. For this reason, we expect the annual sales pace of PS5 hardware to start falling from the next fiscal year.”
A new console, presumably the PS6, is likely in the works, with Sony admitting the PS5 is in its later years. The PS5 has been a massive success for the company, and any new console from Sony is bound to come with high expectations.
Sony’s primary competition, Microsoft and Nintendo, are both rumoured to be working on next-generation consoles. Microsoft is reportedly aiming for a 2028 release, and Nintendo’s long-anticipated Switch 2 is rumoured to be released later this year.
