Sony reveals PlayStation Network popularity but decline in PS5 sales

Sony has just started selling the PlayStation 5 Pro (PS5 Pro) freely, having presented the console in mid-September. In summary, the PS5 Pro is free of the stock issues that plagued the PS5 throughout its first few years of life. However, the increased availability of consoles like the PS5 Slim (curr. $449.99 on Amazon) has not translated into improved sales figures. 

Instead, Sony has reported a significant year-on-year drop in PS5 hardware sales. As Tom Warren of The Verge notes, hardware sales topped 4.9 million in Q2 of Sony's previous financial year. Incidentally, it went on to post 8.2 million units sold the next quarter before dropping back to 4.5 million units in Q4.

By contrast, Sony claimed to have sold 2.4 million PS5 units in Q1 FY24, which represented a 27% year-on-year reduction. Although it has performed stronger in Q2, its hardware sales are still 22% short of its 2023 figures. By all accounts, Q3 will prove a stronger quarter in this regard, particularly with the addition of PS5 Pro sales.

Conversely, game sales have increased by 28% during the same period. Likewise, active PlayStation Network users have risen by over 8% from 107 million to 116 million. With that being said, the latter is still a way off Q3 FY2023, during which Sony recorded 123 million monthly active users.