Sony Corp. said Thursday it has sold more than 40 million units of its flagship video game console PlayStation 4, highlighting strong momentum at the company’s fastest-growing unit.
Sony Interactive Entertainment, the Japanese group’s video game and network-services division, said the game console passed the milestone on Sunday. PlayStation 4 sales are outpacing all its predecessors, including the best-selling second-generation model.
Sony rolled out PlayStation 4 in November 2013, and the console’s sales have surpassed its rivals, including Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox One and Nintendo Co.’s Wii U. Sony plans to ship another 20 million PlayStation 4 units during this fiscal year.
Sony’s video game business has become a core growth engine for the Japanese conglomerate, along with its domestic financial-services unit. For the current fiscal year that started in April, the unit is projected to contribute an operating profit of 1.22 billion USD, nearly half of the company’s overall expected operating profit of 2.7 billion USD.[related-posts]
In addition to PlayStation 4, the unit also pockets revenue from lucrative network services, including online video game subscription and cloud-based TV streaming services. Analysts say the unit’s momentum is likely to accelerate with the planned October launch of the virtual-reality headset PlayStation VR.
