Sony’s shares have increased to hit a record high, as reported by Bloomberg. It’s all thanks to increased interest in gaming and the incredibly popular PlayStation 5 console that had a record launch.
The launch of the PS5 coincided with a rise in coronavirus cases in many countries. Since coronavirus has seen many people stay at home for increasingly long periods, many have turned to gaming as a boredom buster in 2020. In Japan alone, hardware and software sales are up 5.5% compared to November 2019. The PS5 sold 118,000 units in the country in just the first four days of release.
These circumstances led to Sony’s shares increasing by 2.6%, currently sitting at 10,025 yen. It’s only the second time the company has crossed the 10,000 yen mark since 2001, reaching the heights they achieved when the PlayStation 2 was dominating the console market. Japanese gaming stocks have become increasingly popular recently. Fellow gaming company Nintendo’s stocks rose by 6.6% to hit 67,600 yen. This is their highest level since 2007 when the Wii was enjoying its first year of success. This is due to high demand for Nintendo Switch consoles, especially as the holiday season is almost upon us. Both Capcom and Koei Tecmo also did incredibly well.
Not only are Japanese sales doing well, but console sales are doing well all over the world despite stock shortages. Sony spent a significant amount of money on the console’s advertising campaign and this has brought good results; the PS5 is Sony’s biggest console launch ever. In November, the PS5 beat both the Switch and Xbox Series X|S in the UK console charts, and it also set sales records in Europe.
Unfortunately this has led to problems with scalpers. One notorious group bought 3,500 consoles for resale at a significant markup. In the US alone, nearly 33,000 PS5 consoles were sold on eBay during November, netting a $19 million profit for the sellers and the marketplace. Elsewhere, the consoles are currently outselling Xbox Series X|S in the resale market by a margin of 2:1, and some retailers are even selling pre-owned consoles for nearly double the recommended retail price.
[Source: Bloomberg]
