Sony sold 4.5 million PS5 consoles worldwide last year. However, the Japanese manufacturer is now sitting with a shortage of components, which could make it harder to buy the PS5 than it already is.
Sony has already claimed that the PS5 was the biggest launch ever. But it is astonishing that in less than two months after the US launch on November 12, it managed to sell a large quantity of consoles.
If you followed our coverage after the launch of PS5, it would come as no surprise that Sony sold many PS5 consoles, especially since the PS5 is almost always out of stock. And PS5 stock sells out in minutes. But sales of the console indicate that there is a huge appetite for the new console from Sony, although there is not a large amount of PS5 games.
The more surprising information, however, is that Sony is selling the PS5 at a loss. This means that if you are lucky enough to find the disc driver PS5 or the PS5 Digital Edition, then you have a bit of a technical bargain.
Sony did not break down the exact cost of making a PS5 and then sold it for $ 499 or $ 399 for the Digital Edition. But Sony did note that it had to offset profit margins due to “strategic price points for PS5 hardware that were lower than manufacturing costs.”
This is understandable, as the PS5 gives users 10 teraflops of graphics power, a leading PCI 4.0 SSD, the advanced haptics-equipped DualSense controller, and a console that can deliver 4K games with ray tracing. An equivalent computer would probably cost you $ 1,500 or more.
This is nothing new, as Sony sold the PS3 at a loss. By doing so, it could get a Blu-ray player in many households. And because Sony got a cut of every Blu-ray sold, an initial loss of hardware was a smart move. Sony also earns a lot of money for game sales and service subscriptions.
So it’s not a big deal that Sony is doing something similar with the PS5. From our experience with the console, it’s clear that services like PlayStation Plus are front and center, and that the interface is pretty good for buying new games, which puts everything in Sony’s safe.
This is not a measure to predict that the four million PS5s sold last year will still make money during the console’s lifetime.
This is good in two ways. The PS5 is likely to be a bargain at $ 499, given the hardware and performance it offers, as well as an innovative controller. And the more money Sony earns over time means better services for gamers, as the company continues to support Tokyo like PlayStation Plus.
This, of course, is all easier said than done. And getting a PS5 in your hands is still difficult, as the stock situation is unlikely to change for a few months. But if that does change, 2021 is set to become the year of the PS5.