Yahoo Finance Sony: You'll finally be able to buy a PS5 this holiday season
Sony (SONY) is going into the 2023 holiday season with something it hasn’t had in three years: a steady supply of its PlayStation 5 consoles. Yes, for the first time since the video game giant launched its PS5 in the fall of 2020, units will be readily available for consumers to grab off of store shelves or buy online.
“We had supply challenges just like every other consumer product out there that uses the same chips that we use, and we couldn't get a PlayStation 5 to everybody that wanted one,” Eric Lempel, SVP of global marketing, sales, and business operations for Sony Interactive Entertainment, told Yahoo Finance. “But this is the first full year where we can do that.”
Sony’s Game and Network Services segment is the company’s largest business by sales, taking in $24.3 billion of the company’s $77 billion in total sales in its fiscal 2022. Its second-largest segment, Entertainment, Technology, and Services, took in $16.5 billion.
In August, in its most recent report, the company said Games and Network Services sales jumped 23% year over year thanks to an increase in PS5 hardware. Sony reports its latest earnings on Nov. 9.
“Our brand is in the best place it's ever been in the history of the company,” Lempel said. “[There’s] great momentum behind the brand. From everything we track in terms of desirability and pushing the category forward, consumers believe we’re the leader.”
Sony and its rivals Microsoft (MSFT) and Nintendo (NTDOY) suffered severe supply shortages during the early days of the COVID pandemic, driven first by overwhelming demand and then a lack of available chips needed to power the systems.
With those shortages cleared up, however, the companies are on track to meet consumer demand this year. And for Sony, that couldn’t come at a better time.
On Oct. 20, the company debuted its highly anticipated “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.” Sony said it sold 2.5 million copies in its first 24 hours alone, making it the fastest-selling PlayStation Studio game in history.
“A lot of consumers have been waiting for PlayStation 5 and a lot of them are waiting for specific games to make the jump to a PlayStation 5, and ‘Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’ is one of those games,” Lempel said.
“That will make a lot of people say, ‘Okay, now is the time.’ So, we're feeling pretty bullish.”
Sony, however, is now facing a stronger foe in the form of Microsoft thanks to that company’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. That makes titles like “Call of Duty” and “World of Warcraft” first-party games that directly benefit Microsoft.
Microsoft’s moves are part of its efforts to build out its subscription Game Pass service, which gives users access to console and PC games for a monthly fee, as well as the ability to cloud stream games.
Sony, however, is continuing to build out its own subscription PlayStation Plus service. Available in three tiers, the service, which starts at $9.99 per month, gives players access to online multiplayer, downloadable games, and, at its highest level of $17.99 per month, cloud gaming.
So far, Lempel said, Sony is tracking ahead of its own forecasts for subscribers for the service.
While Sony is seemingly set for a strong holiday season, it’s not the only game in town. Microsoft’s Xbox Series X and Series S, not to mention Nintendo’s Switch, are all readily available now. What’s more, Microsoft launched its own major exclusive title, “Starfield,” in September.
Nintendo, meanwhile, debuted its “Super Mario Bros. Wonder” just last week.
In other words, this holiday season is shaping up to be one of the most interesting in some time. Game on.
Daniel Howley is the tech editor at Yahoo Finance. He's been covering the tech industry since 2011. You can follow him on Twitter @DanielHowley.
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