Supply Constraints Continue to Impact PlayStation 5 Sales, Shipping 3.9 Million in Q3

Sony has shipped a total of 3.9 million PlayStation 5s during Q3 of its fiscal year. However, the total number has been impacted by the continuous supply constraints the company has faced, according to the latest earnings call.

As reported by GamesIndustry.biz, Sony’s games division has slipped eight percent year-on-year. During the holiday quarter which is typically expected to see a boom in hardware sales thanks to Black Friday and Boxing Day, Sony shipped 3.9 million units. This is considerably lower than the 4.5 million Sony saw during the launch quarter in 2020.

In 2020, the PlayStation 5’s launch leveraged the release of tentpole first-party titles such as Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Sackboy: A Big Adventure and other third-party games. However, the third quarter didn’t have a major launch from Sony Interactive Entertainment. Horizon: Forbidden West, however, is around the corner launching this month.

The supply constraints are due to the shortage of components that help make up the PlayStation 5 hardware. One of the prime components that Sony struggles to obtain is semiconductors.

Despite the supply issues, Sony has seen lifetime shipments of the PlayStation 5 reach 17.3 million. This now places the PlayStation 5 ahead of Nintendo’s Wii U and its 13.56 units sold. Microsoft never officially releases its console sales numbers. However, it’s estimated that the company has shipped 12 million.

Aside from the hardware, Sony’s Game & Network Services segment reported its sales for its third quarter at ¥813.3 billion ($7.1 billion USD). This number, as expected is down from ¥883.2 billion ($7.7 billion USD) during the same Q3 period in 2020. The company reports 92.7 million units across PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 sold, 11.3 million of which were first-party developed games. It should be noted that the lack of new titles under the Sony umbrella played a factor in the decrease.

However, PlayStation Plus subscriber numbers have increased when compared to the same period in 2020. The total number is reported to be 48 million. In Q2 2021, Sony reported a total of 47.2 million. Monthly active users on PlayStation Network are said to be 111 million.

Finally, Sony has revised its forecast for the year, expecting supply issues to persist. Down from the initial expectation of 14.8 million units shipped, Sony forecasts the full-year shipments of PlayStation 5 to reach 11.5 million. Profit forecasts, however, are increased six percent to ¥345 billion ($3 billion USD).