Sony has announced during its Q2 2016 financial results that worldwide PlayStation 4 shipments have reached 47.4 million as of September 2016.
The hardware giant’s flagship home console moved 3.9 million units during its latest financial quarter, which actually represented a drop of 100,000 units year-on-year. Nonetheless, Sony remains unperturbed by the small decline and is still targeting 20 million PS4s sold by the end of the current financial year.
PlayStation VR was not mentioned in the report, as the quarter does not take into account the period in which Sony’s virtual reality gaming headset launched. Hopefully, we’ll hear just how well it performed in the next quarterly financial report.
Sony’s Game & Network Services division, which houses console hardware and PlayStation Network, saw an overall decline of 11.3 percent in sales and operating revenue. Operating income also fell 20.6 percent, which Sony attributed to the low sales of PS3 plus the recent PS4 price cut. Despite this, the losses were partially offset by the reduction in manufacturing costs for the PS4, plus an increase in software sales and digital content via PSN.
PS4 Pro release date is almost upon us as Sony enters 4K gaming
The PS4 was released in November 2013 alongside Microsoft’s competing Xbox One, although Sony quickly gained the lead over its rival and has continued to track well ahead of the machine in worldwide sales. Despite this, Microsoft has recently enjoyed a surge in sales for the Xbox One, with the console beating PS4 in monthly U.S. sales as of late.
Sony recently launched the PS4 Slim and announced that an upgraded console, the PS4 Slim, will hit stores on November 10, priced at $399/£349. This more powerful system will allow for 4K gaming and increased frame rates, with a number of upcoming titles such as Mass Effect Andromeda and Resident Evil 7: biohazard confirmed to support the device.