Sony aims to sell 18 million PlayStation 5 consoles in its financial year ending in March 2023.
Thiago Prudencio | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Sony posted record quarterly profit in the all-important December quarter which encompasses the holiday season thanks to a boost from its PlayStation gaming business and financial services unit.
Sony beat analyst expectations by a wide margin in its fiscal third quarter.
However, the Japanese tech giant cut its sales forecast for the gaming division for its full fiscal year, citing weaker hardware sales.
Here’s how Sony did in the December quarter versus LSEG consensus estimates:
- Revenue: 3.75 trillion Japanese yen ($24.9 billion) versus 3.58 trillion yen expected
- Operating profit: 463.3 billion yen versus 428.4 billion yen expected
Sony’s gaming business has stayed strong, as users continue to buy the flagship PlayStation 5 console. Sony sold 8.2 million units of its flagship PlayStation 5 console in its fiscal third quarter, which runs from October to December.
The company has previously said that it is targeting sales of 25 million PS5 units in the fiscal year that ends in March. Sony has sold 16.4 million PS5 units so far in its fiscal year, which ends in March.
Sales at Sony’s gaming business rose 16% year-on-year to 1.4 trillion yen in the December quarter. However, operating profit fell 26% in the division, due to increase losses from hardware due to promotions in the period as well as a decline in sales of first-party games.
Sony also cut its fiscal year sales forecast for the gaming division by 210 billion yen to 4.15 trillion yen, saying it expects a decrease in sales of hardware.
Sony also trimmed its sales forecast for the entire company to 12.3 trillion yen from 12.4 trillion yen for the fiscal year.
Financial unit spinoff
Sony said that it will partially spin off its financial services business via a public listing. The company plans to distribute slightly more than 80% of its shares of Sony Financial Group through dividends in kind as a result of the spinoff, in a listing due to take place in October 2025.
Sony’s financial services unit saw revenue in the December quarter rise more than 1,100% to 311.7 billion yen. The company said this was thanks to a rise in sales at its insurance business.
