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| Sony struggles to keep up with demand for PlayStation 5 |
Sony shipped 3.9 million PlayStation 5 consoles in the crucial holiday quarter, up slightly from 3.3 million in the previous quarter, a sign that the electronics giant is still struggling to meet demand amid a global supply chain crisis.
According to financial statements, the company has shipped 17.3 million units as of December 31, about 3 million fewer than the PlayStation 4 was able to ship in the same period after launch.
However, the PlayStation 4 was easy to find on store shelves in its first year of sale. However, there is still no useful metric for measuring actual PlayStation 5 demand.
The gaming division's revenue fell 8% annually to approximately $7.09 billion. But operating profit rose 12.1% to about $810 million.
Sony still can't make enough of the lost PlayStation 5 consoles. But it has a positive effect on the bottom line early in the product life cycle. If you can keep up with demand, Sony's profits will decline every quarter.
PlayStation is now the company's largest division, accounting for more than a quarter of the company's total sales and nearly a quarter of its operating profit.
Sony cut its full-year 2021 gaming revenue forecast by 6% to 2.73 trillion yen as PlayStation 5 sales missed expectations.
This suggests that challenges remain, at least in the short term. As a result, operating profit is expected to rise 6% to 345 billion yen.
Sony is still struggling with PS5
Full-year PlayStation 5 shipments are now expected to reach 11.5 million units, compared to 14.8 million.
The image sensor segment had a strong quarter, with revenue up 22% year over year to nearly $504 million.
Operating profit rose 26% to about $116 million, though Sony returned $12 billion to a double yen. Sony said the sales growth was due to higher sales of image sensors for smartphone cameras.
The film division's revenue is up, growing 141% annually to $4.02 billion.
Spider-Man: Nowhere and Venom: Carnage has attracted a lot more theaters than last year.
While the company said its television production business was boosted by licensing the sitcom Seinfeld.