From its launch in 2013, PlayStation 4 (PS4) a console which has set Sony on a path of profits is again its champion when the quarter results were announced on Thursday. The console has helped the company on the back of the lower sales in the smartphone division and consumer electronics business.
The company which had booked a loss of 85.6 billion Yen last year in the corresponding quarter has doubled its profits this time around, seeing it back to black with an operating profit at 88 billion Yen. This was a touch above the estimates which were pegged at 87.3 billion Yen.
The company said its game and networks business booked a 10 per cent rise at 360.7 billion Yen in operating profit thanks to strong PS4 software sales. The full year profit outlook for the games business gained from last year’s 60 billion Yen to 80 billion Yen this year and boosted the sales outlook for PS4 videogame consoles to 17.5 million units from 16.5 million.
This significant increase was primarily due to an increase in PS4 software sales as well as the impact of foreign exchange rates, partially offset by a decrease in PlayStation 3 (PS3) software sales.
With the holiday season coming, the number of games lined up and Sony dropping the price of the console in certain regions, the sales for the console is likely to rise. Sony has left unchanged its full-year operating profit and sales forecasts. It predicted an operating profit of 320 billion Yen, a near five-fold jump, on sales of 7.9 trillion Yen, down 3.8 per cent.