Sony Group has revealed that PS5 hardware sales saw slower progress than it expected in the first quarter of fiscal year 2023. However, sales are now gaining momentum again and the company hopes to meet its ambitious targets for the current financial year.
PS5 sales top 41.7 million units
PS5 shipments have now crossed 41.7 million units, 3.3 million of which were sold in the last quarter. This is an increase of 38% year-on-year, which Sony considers “significant,” but it still fell short of expectations.
“This amount is somewhat less than the expected progress toward our fiscal year sales target of 25 million units, but, due to promotions begun in July, we are seeing an improvement in the momentum of sales,” the company said in its financial presentation earlier today.
Sony says improving the market penetration of PS5 consoles is now one of its highest priorities for FY2023, and believes it has enough time to catch up to its target of shipping 25 million consoles during the year. The company is banking on Insomniac Games-developed Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 as well as a slew of major third-party releases to achieve its goals.
Elsewhere, Sony revealed that total PlayStation gameplay time during the last quarter was only 2% higher than the same period last year.
