Sony sold 4.5 million PS5 consoles worldwide last year. However, the Japanese manufacturer is now facing a shortage of components, which may make it harder to find where to buy the PS5 than it already is.
Sony had previously stated that the PS5 was its biggest release ever. But it is surprising that it has managed to sell a large number of consoles in less than two months since its launch in the United States on November 12.
If you’ve been following our post-launch coverage of the PS5, it should come as no surprise that Sony has sold large quantities of PS5 consoles, especially considering how the PS5 is almost always out of stock. And PS5 stocks are sold within minutes. But these console sales indicate the huge appetite that exists for Sony’s new console, although there are not a lot of PS5 games to play.
However, the most surprising information is that Sony is selling the PS5 at a loss. This means that if you are lucky enough to have found the PS5 disk drive or PS5 Digital Edition, you will have a bargain on technology.
Sony did not share the exact cost of making a PS5 and then sell it for $ 499, or $ 399 for the Digital Edition. But Sony noted that it had to offset some profit gains due to “strategic prices for PS5 hardware that were set below manufacturing costs”.
This is understandable, given that the PS5 offers users 10 teraflops of graphics power, a state-of-the-art PCI 4.0 SSD, the DualSense controller equipped with advanced haptics and a console that is capable of delivering 4K games with radius tracing. An equivalent PC would likely cost $ 1,500 or more.
This is nothing particularly new, as Sony sold the PS3 at a loss. This allowed a Blu-ray player to reach many homes. And with Sony getting a share of every Blu-ray sold, having an initial hardware loss was an astute move. Sony also makes a lot of money from game sales and service subscriptions.
So it’s no big deal that Sony is doing something similar with the PS5. From our experience with the console, it is clear that services like PlayStation Plus are in the front and center, and the interface is very good at signaling new games to buy, which puts money in Sony’s coffers.
It is no exaggeration to predict that the more than four million PS5s sold last year will continue to generate money for the life of these consoles.
This is good in two ways. The PS5 is arguably a $ 499 bargain due to the hardware and performance it offers, in addition to coming with an innovative controller. And the more money Sony makes over time, the better services for players, as the Tokyo-based company continues to support and develop products like the PlayStation Plus.
Of course, all of this is easier said than done. And getting a PS5 is still stupidly difficult, with the stock situation likely not changing in a few months. But when that changes, 2021 looks to be the year of PS5.