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Sony saw its profit dip 31% in the first fiscal quarter ended June 30, but it’s game business continues to thrive. Sales of PlayStation 5 consoles grew compared to a year ago, but profits declined.
Solid performance in games led to a 33% increase in quarterly revenue to $20.7 billion compared to a year ago. Operating profit was 253 billion yen, down 31% but about the same as analysts expected.
Sales in games and network services were 771.9 billion yen, up 167.8% from the same quarter a year ago. Operating income was narrower at 49.2 billion yen, down 3.6% from a year ago. Sony increased its games and network services forecast for the fiscal year to 4.17 trillion yen, up from its previous forecast of 3.9 trillion yen in games.
Sony already anticipated selling 25 million PlayStation 5 consoles in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, up from 19.1 million units in the previous year, when supplies were constrained during the pandemic due to supply-chain challenges.
In the most recent quarter, Sony sold 3.3 million PS5 consoles, up 38% from a year earlier. Sony’s life-to-date sales of the PS5 have topped 40 million consoles sold. While Sony has been adapting a lot of games into movies, the movie business was a drag on profits, partly because of higher marketing costs and films started going into theaters again.
Sony credited the higher forecast o more sales of non-first-party titles and add-on content, as well as the impact of foreign exchange rates. But it noted the profitability of the PS5 hardware has deteriorated due to promotions in geographic regions and the sales channel mix. It also noted the impact of changes in the launch dates of first-party titles — which I interpret as game delays.
FYQ1 24 was relatively weak on software sales while hardware sales were strong. The PlayStation Network has about 108 million monthly active users, up from 103 million a year ago.
To date, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End has sold 8.7 million copies. Horizon Zero Dawn has sold 20 million copies. Ghost of Tsushima has sold 8 million copies. God of War has sold 23 million copies. The Last of Us Part II has sold four million copies. Marvel’s Spider-Man has sold 13.2 million. Marvel’s Spider-Man Miles Morales has sold eight million. And God of War: Ragnarok has surpassed 11 million.
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