PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X (as well as Xbox Series S) are all being sold at a loss but are expected to become profitable somewhere down the road. It turns out that PS5 will apparently reach the break-even point first and fairly soon.
During an investor relations event (via Nikkei) from a day ago, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan stated that the standard PS5 edition “is close to becoming profitable” and will “enter the break-even point next month.”
Ryan noted that factors like virtual reality and cloud-based gaming will be driving gaming growth for Sony when going forward but most importantly, launching PS5 in China earlier in the month has proven to be “absolutely extraordinary.”
He added that China with a population of 1.4 billion is “a complicated and difficult market with regulatory risks,” but “if we do this right, it could represent a big business opportunity” for Sony and the PlayStation brand.
Ryan also confirmed Sony to be producing at least 22.6 million PS5 consoles during the 2022 fiscal year which begins April 2022. The goal is to beat the original PlayStation which sold the most consoles during the 1998 fiscal year.
Ryan stated that Sony wants to “make sure FY2022 will be the highest year” for console sales, an ambitious statement which arrives during a global semiconductor crisis.
Sony has shipped 7.8 million PS5 consoles so far which narrowly beats 7.6 million PS4 consoles sold during the same launch period. The console manufacturer intends to produce and sell at least another 14.8 million PS5 consoles for the 2021 financial year which began April 2021, which will also exceed PS4 for the same second-year period.
Sony has also reportedly been outselling Microsoft by two-to-one for the first calendar quarter of 2021.
PlayStation 5, the standard edition, retails at $500 but finding one will prove difficult. Scalpers on the other hand have been offering prices which start around $1000 and which can go as high as $2000.
