The sad facts behind the success of Sony selling 4.5 million PS5s

KOMPAS.com – PlayStation 5 ( PS5), sell well in the market. In the most recent financial statements for the quarter ended December 31, Sony as the maker also mentioned that konsol game it sold 4.5 million units by the end of 2020.

Even though the PS5 was only officially released in November last year, it has sold-out well in advance since pre-order starting to open in mid-September. Apart from 4.5 million PS5 units, in the same quarter, the previous generation console, PS4, sold 1.4 million units.

Even though it is in great demand in the market, in fact Sony claims to have lost money from selling the PS5 because this game console was sold at a loss.

Also read: Stock Ludes, Reseller Selling PS5 in Indonesia up to IDR 30 Million

“The loss comes from the strategic price hardware PS5 which is positioned lower than the cost of production, “said Sony in financial reports.

It was not specified how much difference the PS5 selling price was with the manufacturing costs. There are two versions of the PS5 on the market (Indonesia), namely the regular version for Rp.8.8 million and the Digital Edition version which does not have one drive Blu-ray for IDR 7.3 million.

“Sell loss” strategy, according to Investopedia, is actually a common thing in the world of game consoles and has been implemented since previous generations.

Prices are deliberately pressed to lure buyers into the console ecosystem. Profits are obtained through the sale of games and other products such as accessories and subscription services.

Also read: AMD Processor Stock Is Running Out, Bad News for PS5 and PC

For the PS5 – as well as the Xbox Series X and X which are also sold at a loss – the production cost which is higher than the selling price is also due to the high price of the components needed to make the console.

Moreover, the TSMC semiconductor factory which handles AMD CPU and GPU manufacturing for PS5 also serves orders from other industry players, such as chip Apple M1 for MacBook.

Apart from being expensive, component stock has become scarce. This, according to Sony, is the culprit behind the slow supply of PS5 units on the market.

“It is difficult for us to increase PS5 production amid the scarcity of semiconductors and other components,” wrote Sony in its report.

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