PS5 Sales Forecast Revised Downward Three Years After Launch
Sony Unveils PS4 Pro Version Three Years After Release
There are claims that Sony is highly likely to release a new PlayStation (PS)5 model this year. Analysts believe that Sony plans to offset its recent poor performance by launching a new product, following the company's decision to lower its sales forecast for its flagship console, the PS5.
On the 19th (local time), CNBC reported, citing interviews with analysts, that Sony's downward revision of the PS5 sales forecast is a strategy to launch the next-generation console in line with the release of the popular game Grand Theft Auto VI (GTA 6), scheduled for 2025.
On the 14th, Sony announced its financial results for the 2023 fiscal year (April 2023 to March 2024), stating that "PS5 sales are expected to gradually decline from the next fiscal year." In fact, the estimated PS5 sales volume in this earnings report was reduced from 25 million units to 21 million units. Due to this decline in performance, Sony's market capitalization evaporated by about $10 billion (approximately 13.35 trillion KRW) on the same day.
Sony's gaming division operating profit margin has been continuously decreasing. Until the first quarter of 2022, Sony's gaming division operating profit margin was around 12% to 13%, but it fell to less than 6%, about half that level, in the fourth quarter of last year.
Analysts expect Sony to reveal new hardware to try to reverse the situation. In fact, Sony released the 'Pro' version of the PS4 about three years after the original PS4 was launched.
Serkan Toto, CEO of game consulting firm Kantan Games, said in an interview with CNBC, "There seems to be a broad consensus in the gaming industry that Sony is preparing to launch the PS5 Pro in the second half of 2024." He added, "Sony will not want to miss out on GTA 6, which is expected to revitalize the entire gaming industry in 2025, so they will likely prepare a next-generation console to match."
Omdia senior analyst George Jijiashvili evaluated, "Even if the PS5 Pro is released, Sony may not lower the current PS5 price as it has done in the past," and added, "The release of the next-generation console may not guarantee an increase in sales volume."
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