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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Sony lowered its expected PlayStation 5 sales for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, from a 25 million-unit target to around 21 million. It also cut its PlayStation business sales forecast, but left its operating-income estimate unchanged. Sony ultimately reported 20.8 million PS5 units sold in FY2023.
Why did Sony lower its PS5 sales forecast?
On February 14, 2024, Sony said PS5 sales in its fiscal third quarter were 8.2 million units. Although that was then a record quarterly result for the console, it fell short of the pace Sony needed to reach its 25 million-unit target for FY2023, which ended March 31, 2024.
Sony Group CFO Hiroki Totoki said in the company’s February 14, 2024 earnings announcement transcript: “Based on the results for this quarter, PS5 unit sales for this fiscal year are expected to be around 21 million units.” That was a forecast, not the final count.
Did Sony cut its PlayStation revenue forecast?
Yes. Sony reduced its FY2023 Games & Network Services (G&NS) segment sales forecast by ¥210 billion, or 5%, from ¥4.36 trillion to ¥4.15 trillion. The segment includes more than console hardware, so this revenue estimate is separate from the PS5 unit forecast.
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Sony said lower hardware unit sales were the main reason for the revision. Foreign-exchange effects and higher sales of non-first-party games, including add-on content, partly offset the reduction. In the fiscal third quarter, G&NS sales rose 16% year over year to ¥1.4444 trillion, while operating income fell ¥30.1 billion to ¥86.1 billion. Sony attributed the income decline mainly to weaker PS5 hardware profitability, largely due to promotions, and lower sales of first-party titles; currency and third-party software sales provided offsets. These figures and explanations appear in Sony’s FY2023 Q3 results materials.
Why did Sony keep its profit forecast unchanged?
Despite lowering its sales estimate, Sony kept its FY2023 G&NS operating-income forecast at ¥270 billion and adjusted OIBDA forecast at ¥385 billion. It cited increased hardware losses, mainly from promotions, offset by stronger non-first-party game sales, including add-on content. The unchanged profit outlook was not a claim that hardware sales or profitability had held steady; it reflected the expected balance between those pressures and software revenue.
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How did the forecast compare with the final FY2023 result?
Sony Interactive Entertainment later reported 20.8 million PS5 hardware units sold in FY2023. That company-reported sell-in figure was close to the February forecast of around 21 million and below the earlier 25 million target. Sony’s official hardware sales table records these fiscal-year totals:
| Fiscal period | PS5 hardware sell-in | What the figure represents |
|---|---|---|
| FY2023 | 20.8 million | Reported actual |
| FY2024 | 18.5 million | Reported actual |
| FY2025 | 16.0 million | Reported actual |
| FY2026 Q1 | 1.6 million | First-quarter figure only; not a full-year result |
These are Sony’s sell-in figures, not a measure of how many consoles consumers bought at retail. The FY2026 Q1 number is a partial-year result and should not be read as comparable to the full-year totals.
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Did the lower console forecast mean PlayStation engagement had collapsed?
No such conclusion follows from the unit revision alone. In the same February 2024 earnings transcript, Sony reported 123 million PlayStation monthly active users in December 2023 and 13% year-over-year growth in total game-play time for the quarter. Those company-reported engagement measures offer context, but they do not negate the shortfall in hardware sales.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How does the 2024 revision differ from Sony’s later forecast?
The February 2024 cut concerned FY2023. It is not Sony’s current forecast. In May 2026, Sony forecast FY2026 G&NS sales of ¥4.42 trillion and operating income of ¥600 billion, saying its PS5 hardware outlook depended on how much memory it could procure at reasonable prices. In a July 31, 2026 filing, Sony raised those forecasts to ¥4.54 trillion in sales and ¥660 billion in operating income, and said it had secured sufficient memory for projected FY2026 PS5 sales volume. It still expected hardware profitability to be similar to FY2025.
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Those later outlooks reflect different conditions and should not be read back into the FY2023 decision. Sony’s May forecast is in its FY2025 earnings speech; the revised outlook is in its FY2026 Q1 results filing.
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