CORRECTING MISINFORMATION On incorrect interpretations from Sony/PlayStation's FY2023 Q3 Report from an analyst.

[Yurinka]

The PS5 isn't 5 years old. Which you know because you confirm it in your second paragraph...

If Sony peaks at year 4 (this year) then that's a bad sign for PS5 as it missed its sales targets and the COO said it would also miss this year's targets.

If sales fall on year 5, then PS5 will be Xbox-in-Japan levels of success.

Totoki and me were talking in fiscal years. PS5 will start its 5th fiscal year in a bit more than a month, where Totoki said they estimate PS5 would start its latter half of its lifecycle.

The yearly hardware sales of consoles make a curve, where they grow during its first years until peaking traditionally around its 4th year (typically somewhere from 3rd to 5th FY).

It isn't bad to peak hardware sales around its 4th fiscal year and after that to sell less every year, it's normal. It's how the console hardware sales always worked, and won't change in PS5.

 

[Kokoloko]

I see PS5 getting stronger once GTA6 comes. Its gonna be huge, especially with no PC and barely an Xbox presence. And if there studios are really releasing more games in the later years, we could see something new and unexpected

 

[xollowsob]

I think PS will have a huge year next year. More 1st party stuff plus GTA6.
If games like Persona 6, Dragon Quest and the Next main line Monster Hunter come out soon, it can make it a great year or 2 for PS5 in Japan. But I have a feeling Switch 2 will be able to play all of those too

I'm not convinced that the Switch 2 will have the same impact that the Switch 1 has had. Nintendo rarely succeed at a second attempt at lightning in a bottle.

Ps5 pro/slim could help as well.

An XSX slim with major price reduction could also hurt Sony. Time will tell.

As soon as third party publishers by and large starting porting their AAA games to PC it was over for the growth of consoles.

Combined with console manufacturers making console more difficult and time-consuming to use.

Consoles used to sell on convenience; buy a disc/cart, put it in, play game.
Now you need an email address, and online account, username, details, 2fa. You spend hours downloading a game, then it needs a patch.
Sometimes you have to wait for servers, sign up and make a new account on whatever 3rd party data-stealing app is disguised as a storefront or both.

The normies and nu-casuals are too dumb, lazy and dopamine-deprived to jump through those hoops. Especially as they get the same instant gratification from a game by scrolling tiktok.

Those who are willing to deal with the bullshit on consoles nowadays, know that a little extra effort means they can play on PC, which offer vastly more gaming options than a single console.

 

[Satoru]

Be respecful with people and don't insult them, you retarded and uninformed moron.

 

[xollowsob]

Totoki and me were talking in fiscal years. PS5 will start its 5th fiscal year

So he's right mentioning that on its 5th year PS5 starts its latter half

So it's safe to assume that around the 5th it will start to fall

Be respecful with people and don't insult them, you retarded and uninformed moron.

Lol, lmao even.

You're saying, in your educated and experienced opinion that the PS5 saw it's peak year this year, which missed the sales target, and as of PS5s fifth year on the market (it hasn't been four years yet but ok) which you and your best mate Totoki say will start in April, that sales will decline?

 

[xollowsob]

Tbf, I think that was a joke. It was a good one.

 

[Yurinka]

Lol, lmao even.

You're saying, in your educated and experienced opinion that the PS5 saw it's peak year this year, which missed the sales target, and as of PS5s fifth year on the market (it hasn't been four years yet but ok) which you and your best mate Totoki say will start in April, that sales will decline?

I edited the post to add a graph to see if it's clear enough in that way.

The peak of the hardware console sales traditionally is around their 3rd-5th year, so for PS5 peaking in 4th would be normal. PS5 will start its 5th next month.

Totoki said they estimate PS5 is entering its later half, meaning they estimate that the current FY is the peak for hardware sales so in the next one and following ones the yearly hardware sales of the console will keep decreasing, as happens in all consoles after their peak (as can be seen in the graph I posted).

Totoki said that to an analyst/investor/whatever who rightfully mentioned that consoles traditionally peak their hardware sales in 4th FY, software sales in 5th FY and profitability in 6th FY.

 

[Satoru]

You're saying, in your educated and experienced opinion that the PS5 saw it's peak year this year, which missed the sales target, and as of PS5s fifth year on the market (it hasn't been four years yet but ok) which you and your best mate Totoki say will start in April, that sales will decline?

While I disagree with most of what that poster writes, he's actually right about sales peaks.

Business Data & Sales

Sony Interactive Entertainment offers its business and sales information for those seeking to understand our sales wins.

sonyinteractive.com

The PS4 had it's peak in FY2016, which is basically FY2023 for the PS5 (the current fiscal year)

 

[xollowsob]

I edited the post to add a graph to see if it's clear enough in that way.

The peak of the hardware console sales traditionally is around their 3rd-5th year, so for PS5 peaking in 4th would be normal. PS5 will start its 5th next month.

Totoki said they estimate PS5 is entering its later half, meaning they estimate that the current FY is the peak so in the next one and following ones the yearly hardware sales of the console will keep decreasing, as happens in all consoles after their peak (as can be seen in the graph I posted).

While I disagree with most of what that poster writes, he's actually right about sales peaks.

Business Data & Sales

Sony Interactive Entertainment offers its business and sales information for those seeking to understand our sales wins.

sonyinteractive.com

The PS4 had it's peak in FY2016, which is basically FY2023 for the PS5 (the current fiscal year)

I'm not disagreeing with the sales peak, or how the information was prevented.

I'm just surprised that the consensus is that the sun is setting on PS5 and it has seen it's best years.

Sony may have to take a bath on price if they want to shift units

 

[Satoru]

I'm just surprised that the consensus is that the sun is setting on PS5 and it has seen it's best years.

Well yes, the consensus is that the PS5 is following the PS4 trend. However, one could argue that it could follow the PS3 trend instead, and have its best year in FY24.

 

[Yurinka]

I'm not disagreeing with the sales peak, or how the information was prevented.

I'm just surprised that the consensus is that the sun is setting on PS5 and it has seen it's best years.

Sony may have to take a bath on price if they want to shift units

PS5 is far from sunsetting, its years with the biggest software sales and profitability (so the ones where Sony makes more money) are coming now. It's only their hardware sales the ones that apparently peaked.

Pretty likely Sony will keep supporting it for 10+ years as they did with all their previous home consoles, beyond the release of their next console. Specially now that people having GaaS, game subs and BC they take longer to move to the next gen.

 

[avenovah]

Hiroki Totoki's HOT quote wasn't about PlayStation Studios, but specifically about Bungie.

Sony president wants Bungie to be better at ‘assuming accountability for development timelines’ | VGC

Hiroki Totoki says there’s “room for improvement from a business perspective” at the Destiny studio…

www.videogameschronicle.com

 

[Luffy123]

Hiroki Totoki's HOT quote wasn't about PlayStation Studios, but specifically about Bungie.

Sony president wants Bungie to be better at ‘assuming accountability for development timelines’ | VGC

Hiroki Totoki says there’s “room for improvement from a business perspective” at the Destiny studio…

www.videogameschronicle.com

Make this it’s own thread wtf is this fear mongering

 

[Petekilla]

Make this it’s own thread wtf is this fear mongering

Yeah this needs it’s own thread.

 

[flaccidsnake]

Hiroki Totoki's HOT quote wasn't about PlayStation Studios, but specifically about Bungie.

Sony president wants Bungie to be better at ‘assuming accountability for development timelines’ | VGC

Hiroki Totoki says there’s “room for improvement from a business perspective” at the Destiny studio…

www.videogameschronicle.com

ambiguous. he names bungie specifically, but several times refers to [visiting] "the studios" in an unclear way. certainly he has his eye on bungie, but the most likely interpretation is that he wants to tighten up the business side across all playstation teams. he talks about improving profitability as "the problem of the organization" before he mentions bungie.

 

[Infinity]

Yeah this needs it’s own thread.

Q: [G&NS and I&SS segments] What will be the keys to improving your operating margin?

A: G&S segment: When it comes to PS5, one challenge that sets this console cycle apart from PS4 and previous generations is that we find it difficult to reduce our costs during the course of the cycle. Unlike high-spec PCs, PS consoles enable us to offer an immersive experience for many people in a safe environment with affordable price. To offer that kind of experience, with costs for components like chips and memory on the rise, one key will be that we continue to sell consoles without substantial discounts [during the course of its product life-cycle] by engaging in product planning that ensures affordability for consumers. Another driver will be first-party titles. Strong titles that achieve growth on PS5, PCs and other platforms will widen our margins. We believe that we have opportunities for margin improvement and intend to pursue them aggressively.

Its not all bungie. His quote still stands.