Speaking during its latest financial briefing, Sony Interactive Entertainment Japan touched on the state of PS4 sales in wake of news that the console’s performance at retail had dipped slightly year-on-year.
The electronic giant’s Deputy President and Chief Financial Officer, Kenichiro Yoshida, observed that every console generation sees a point where hardware and software sales reach their peak. He went on to suggest that the PS4 reached that peak with hardware sales last year, with software expected to hit that mark in 2017.
Once this happens, Yoshida-san said that Sony foresees the profit structure for the PS4 to stabilise. Sony confirmed yesterday that its flagship console has now shipped 63.3 million units worldwide, with 3.3 million having shipped during the last financial quarter.
The PS4 launched in November 2013 and has to date sold over 60 million units globally, although Microsoft has been notoriously quiet on how many Xbox Ones have arrived in consumers’ hands during the same time frame.
Nonetheless, Sony has made it clear that latest home console is outperforming its lead rival by a substantial margin. Earlier this year, it said that the PS4 is outselling the Xbox One by a massive three-to-one in Europe, one of the key global markets for video game sales.
Things look set to shift up a gear later this year however, with Microsoft launching fresh hardware in the shape of the high-end Xbox One X. Sony already has PS4 Pro available of course, but Microsoft’s console is considerably more powerful in terms of raw hardware specs.
Even so, it has been discovered that the Xbox One X will still employ the same technical wizardry as the PS4 Pro when it comes to 4K gaming on certain titles, such as Assassin’s Creed Origins.
PS5 release due in next few years?
Looking beyond the current hardware cycle, PS5 rumors have been picking up the pace recently. Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities, reckons the new console will launch in 2019, with a new Sony console likely to be considerably more powerful than Xbox One X.
Source: GamingBolt