Following a record-breaking year (the Game & Network services reported ¥2,656bn in revenue and ¥ 342.2bn profit), Sony is bracing for weaker profits in many of its businesses including games. The company expects operating profits for PlayStation to fall 5 per cent to ¥325bn in FY2021.
The January to March quarter already saw a 3.7 percent year-on-year decline in digital sales.
This is happening despite a very strong demand for PS5. Since its launch in November 2020, PS5 has sold 7.8m units, slightly outperforming PS4 during the same period since its 2013 launch.
During this financial year, Sony hopes that PS5 sales will outpace the 14.8m PS4s sold during the latter’s second year on the market.
However, the platform holder warns that the hardware shortage will persist throughout 2021. “It continues to be the case that supplies have not been able to keep up with the very strong demand for PS5,” Hiroki Totoki, Sony’s chief financial officer, said. “We expect semiconductor-focused supply constraints for devices to continue into this current fiscal year.”