Sony has reported its second quarter FY15 financials, breaking out PlayStation 4 sales for investors. After tailing off in the two quarters following launch, sales are on the rise once more.
3.3 million PlayStation 4 consoles were shipped in the second quarter, bringing the total worldwide to 13.5 million. Sales for the gaming unit are up 74 percent when adjusted for currency compared to the same quarter last year, reaching ¥309.5 billion ($2.79 billion). Operating income for the game and network services segment hit ¥21.8 billion ($196.5 million) compared to an operating loss last year of ¥4.2 billion ($37.85 million).
Unfortunately, Sony’s big picture doesn’t reflect the success of the gaming division. The company shows an operating loss of ¥85.6 billion ($771.5 million) and a net loss of ¥136 billion ($1.23 billion).
Sony has drastically revised its loss projections for the full year, ending March 31, 2015 in September. They company had been projecting a ¥50 billion ($450.6 million) loss, but now anticipates that number to be a loss of ¥230 billion ($2.07 billion). The ¥180 billion ($1.62 billion) difference is attributable to due its mobile phone division.
Note: When Sony first reported these figures, it did not make clear whether units were shipped or sold. That information is now available and we have updated the headline and body of the story to reflect it.
Our Take
Sony’s gaming division is strong, but it’s had a tough month. With Driveclub, a major exclusive, having a terrible launch and then today’s news that the PS4 Evolve Alpha was postponed due to problems with Update 2.0, PlayStation needs to finish the year strong. Even then, with the corporate-level finances looking so bleak, the insulation provided by strong sales is thinning.