Sony's holiday PS5 sales dropped 16 percent compared to last year

Sony has now shipped 92.2 million PlayStation 5 consoles in total around the world, but sales were down sharply over the holiday season compared to last year. In its latest earnings report, the company said it shipped eight million PS5s during its key third quarter, 1.5 million (16 percent) lower than in the same period last year. The gaming division still made more profit, though, thanks to a boost in software sales and a low yen.

Sony’s first two quarters this fiscal year saw an increase in PS5s sold, so the holiday decline is a bit surprising. That said, sales during the same period the previous year were an outlier at 9.5 million units sold, far and away its best period since the console went on sale in November 2020.

Software sales, however, were exceptional in Q3 this year. Sony sold 97.2 million games compared to 95.9 million the year before, and boosted digital sales to 76 percent, up 2 percent year-over-year. Sony said it also saw a record 132 million monthly active users on the PlayStation Network. New games on the horizon for PS5 include Resident Evil Requiem (February 27), Avowed (February 17) and Bungie’s Marathon (March 5).

With PS5 sales down a bit, it does raise the question of when the company’s next console is coming. The PS4 went seven years before being replaced, but given continued strong sales, high RAM prices and recent hardware updates, analysts figure that the PS5 is likely to have a longer life cycle. When the PS6 does arrive, however, it could offer triple the performance of the PS5. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/sonys-holiday-ps5-sales-dropped-16-percent-compared-to-last-year-130000476.html?src=rss