Sony Corp's PlayStation 4 sales are proving a bright spot for Chief Executive Officer Kazuo Hirai who is cutting costs to spur a revival at a company hit by falling demand for televisions and cameras.
Five months after its release, sales of the US$399 video-game console surpassed 7 million units worldwide as of April 6, Tokyo-based Sony said on Wednesday in a statement. Shipments have outpaced rival Microsoft Corp's Xbox One, which had sold 4.2 million, according to an early April estimate from VGChartz.com.
Sales of the PS4 are proving demand remains viable for high-performance gaming in the era of cheap play on smartphones and tablet computers. Sony promised to cut $250 million in entertainment unit costs and said it would sell its stake in gamemaker Square Enix (9684) Holdings Co as Hirai seeks new hit products to capture a consumer shift to mobile devices.
A customer plays a video game on a PlayStation 4 (PS4) video game console. (Bloomberg Photo)
"The consoles sales are a positive sign for Sony even though the overall electronics business is not performing well," said Kazuyuki Terao, Tokyo-based chief investment officer at Allianz Global Investors Japan Co. "It is more important for other products in the electronics unit to recover."
Shares of Sony rose 0.2% to 1,927 yen as of 9.59am in Tokyo, extending a 5.5% gain this year.
Share sale
Sony agreed to sell its stake in Square Enix to SMBC Nikko Securities Inc for 15.3 billion yen ($150 million) and will book a 4.8 billion yen gain on the sale in the first quarter, according to statements on Thursday and Wednesday.
Tokyo-based Square Enix, a gamemaker that has produced titles including “Dragon Quest,” rose as much as 8.3% in Tokyo trading.
Software sales for the PlayStation 4, which is unable to play titles for its predecessors, are also rising. More than 20.5 million copies of games have been sold at retail stores and through digital downloads on Sony’s online store as of April 13, according to the statement.
Developers plan to release about 120 titles for the PlayStation 4 this year, Sony said.
"Although we are still facing difficulties keeping up with the strong demand worldwide, we remain steadfast in our commitment to meet the needs of our customers," Andrew House, president and group chief executive officer of Sony Computer Entertainment, said in the statement.
Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, has been discounting the $499 Xbox One to help bridge the price difference with Sony. A bundle including the Xbox One and the exclusive title "Titanfall" from Electronic Arts (EA) Inc. has been offered for $450 at retailers including Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
The researcher NPD Group Inc. plans to release monthly video game sales data on Thursday.