PlayStation 5 Is Already Making A Profit (Kind Of)

Oftentimes, when gaming companies release new gaming hardware, they usually take a loss on each console sold. Of course, this doesn't last forever as the cost to produce a console goes down as time goes on, but at the start of a new generation, it isn't rare to hear that console makers are selling the consoles at a loss to get them to a certain price point. As it turns out, the period in which Sony was selling the PS5 at a loss was a short one, as Sony is now running a profit on the disc-based console.

That was revealed during a call with investors following Sony's Q1 2021 financials (as reported by Bloomberg). According to Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki, the standard PlayStation 5, which runs $499 and has a disc drive, is no longer selling at a loss. While it sounds like the PS5 Digital Edition – which retails for $399 – still is selling at a loss, Totoki also said that accessory sales and PS4 sales will soon offset it.

In Sony's most recent round of financials, we learned that the PlayStation 5 sold 2.3 million units during the first quarter of Sony's 2021 fiscal year. The PlayStation 4, meanwhile, sold only 500,000 units during the quarter, which is a fairly substantial drop from Q4 2020.

During that call, Totoki also noted that Sony has secured the semiconductors needed to produce enough PS5s to meet its goal of selling 14.8 million units in the console's first fiscal year. To date, the PlayStation 5 has already sold more than 10 million units, making it the fastest-selling PlayStation console in Sony's history.

So, the PS5 is definitely off to a solid start. We'll see if Sony can hit its goal of 14.8 million units sold in the PS5's first fiscal year because if it can, it'll put the new console on pace with the PlayStation 4 and the sales it enjoyed in its first year.