Key Takeaways
- Sales of the PS5 have slowed due to a mid-generation crisis, and demand has declined after four years.
- Waiting for the rumored PS5 Pro and price cuts could reverse the decline in sales.
- High costs and a lack of exclusive games have contributed to the PS5’s weak sales compared to the PS4.
Sony’s latest fiscal year financial report has revealed the current state of the PS5 hardware. The big takeaway is that the system has now sold 61.7 million units worldwide, with 2.4 million of those expected to be sold in Q1 2024. That’s impressive enough, but the PS5 sold 4.5 million units last quarter, which is a surprising drop. Sony itself had predicted sales of around 3 million units this quarter, falling short by more than 500,000. Now, Sony has admitted that it will have to recalibrate its future sales forecasts.
The start of this generation has been tough for all consoles for various reasons, but the PS5 has struggled the most as demand was so high. Despite all the constraints, it managed to surpass PS4 sales in the same period until this quarter, when it eventually fell off. While the PS5 has been the best-selling console for most months and software and services revenue is higher than ever, it’s clear that the console itself is not selling at the pace Sony expected. There are a few possible reasons for this, and thankfully, PlayStation seems to have the answers to all of them.
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The mid-generation crisis
Four years is the fifth year in terms of game console years.
The biggest reason sales are slowing is the simplest: it’s been four years since the PlayStation 5 launched. Supply has outstripped demand, so most people who wanted a PS5 have already bought one. Console generations are set in roughly eight-year cycles, and we’re probably in the middle of one right now, but this is a tricky situation. People who haven’t invested in a PS5 are wondering if it’s worth it, since they may only have four years or so to go before the next generation launches.
The solution to this mid-life slump will likely be one of two things, or a combination of both: the first is a price cut, something PlayStation has never done before, and/or a mid-life upgrade akin to a PS4 Pro for people who don’t want to buy old tech that could become outdated.
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Wait for the pro
I don’t want to get burned
The reason PlayStation hasn’t officially announced the PS5 Pro is because they want to wait until the very end. As the Pro’s release gets closer, fewer people will go out and buy a current PS5 if they can wait. PlayStation certainly wants to sell the Pro, but they can’t afford to hold back sales of the current model for long.
While the Pro isn’t official, there have been enough leaks and rumors floating around that anyone paying attention to the industry knows it’s coming soon, and while the Pro itself may not have a huge impact on sales, it’s likely a contributing factor.
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Not for sale
Fixed price, permanent
Sony
There’s no denying that the PS5 is expensive. It was expensive when it launched, and now it’s even more expensive in some parts of the world. While other generations would have seen the base price of a console drop by around $50-100 after four years of launch, the high price of the PS5 remains the same, with rare exceptions. The best you can hope for is some bundled products with games and controllers.
Buying a full-price console is a luxury that most people and families simply can’t afford, and sales are when most people can finally justify spending a little money on geeky tech, but that hasn’t happened with the PS5. Many sales remain unsold because the current price is simply out of reach for many people who would otherwise buy one.
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PS4 Support
There’s little reason to upgrade
The PS5 library is impressive. I don’t think anyone would argue with that, but if you look at the fine print, there are very few games that are exclusive to the PS5 that aren’t also available on the PS4. Sure, they’ll look and run worse, but most people don’t care that much about graphics or frame rates as long as they can play the games they love. God of War: Ragnarok, Horizon Forbidden West, and Elden Ring are some of the biggest games of this generation, but they’re all also available on the PS4. Without a strong lineup of must-play games to convince people to switch, many will be perfectly happy sticking with the PS4.
This issue is becoming less and less as fewer games are able to support last-gen systems, but the real problem is GTA 6. This game alone should be enough to convince any hesitant people that it’s time to upgrade to a PS5.
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