Following the results of their Q3 financials, Sony management, which comprised of CEO Kaz Hirai and CFO Masaru Kato, held two separate earnings calls today. When they weren’t talking about non-gaming divisions of Sony or forcing people to listen to One Direction’s Midnight Memories while on hold (seriously), Masaru and Kaz discussed PlayStation.
In a brief overview to catch everyone up during the first call (via SeekingAlpha), Masaru told everyone that, as of 2013’s end, the PS4 sold 4.2 million units of hardware and 9.7 million units of software. He also added how the PlayStation Network has over 150 registered accounts (and growing) – the same number as of November 2013.
For some more info, Masaru revealed how December 2013 was the biggest month ever in terms of sales for the Sony Entertainment Network. He then brought up their aggressive rollout of PlayStation Now to several devices by saying, “We are diversifying revenue streams by aggressively rolling out network services in addition to the packaged software we have sold traditionally, and we are making moves with an eye onto the future. So the speed of the spread of PS4 is quite encouraging.”
When it was Kaz’s turn, he said, “We anticipate further robust growth and its firm establishment as a next-generation platform,” after bringing up the fact that the PS4 is coming out in Japan on February 22nd.
Kaz continued on this call by talking about how Sony’s target for the PS3 and PS4 this fiscal year is still 15 million, even with the PS3’s decline. “PS4, by the way, is doing a lot better than our expectations,” he said. “But PS3, because PS4 is doing so well, maybe PS3 is slightly behind anticipation, so there’s pluses and minuses, but altogether, remain with the same target of 15 million.”
Based on his experiences, Kaz says that it’s not time to ease off on marketing for the PS4 and PlayStation brands, hinting that increasing makreting spending might be a good idea if the opportunity presents itself.
On the second call (via SeekingAlpha), Kaz remarked about the “very strong sell-through of the PS4” and how they’re chasing the market, while Masaru said he believes the success of the PS4 going forward will come from paid subscription services, such as PlayStation Plus, and “new types of revenues.”
When PlayStation Plus was brought up, Kaz then chimed in and revealed that over 2.1 million PS4 owners have a subscription:
I’m going to just add a little more color by saying that [of] all the 4.2 million PS4s that have already moved into the hands of consumers, more than half of the people that have now gotten their hands with the PS4 have actually signed up for [the] PS Plus service, which bodes very well for us as well.
Do you wish Kaz spent less time worrying about Sony and more time saying Riiiiiiiiiiiiiddddgggeeee Racerrrrrrr? Let us know in the comments below.
