ANALYSIS: PS5 sales drift behind PS4, while Sony says it’s undecided on PS6 release date and price

Sony president and CEO Hiroki Totoki says the company hasn’t yet decided when it’s going to release the PlayStation 6, and what its price will be.

However, in its latest financial results published on Friday, the company said it expects income to be flat year-on-year because “of an increase in investments for the next-generation platform”.

For the three months ended March 31, Sony sold some 1.5 million PlayStation 5 consoles, bringing the lifetime total to 93.7 million. This is slightly less than the PS4 managed in the equivalent quarter (2.6m), which means PS5 is now slightly behind its predecessor, launch aligned, albeit with a far higher price point and launch shortages.

Given the ongoing global component shortage crisis and PS5’s recent $100 price rise, much of Sony’s financial call was dominated by questions around pricing.

One journalist asked for an update on how the increased cost of components such as RAM has affected the price of the PS5, and how much of an impact it will have on PS6.

Totoki replied by explaining that as the price of memory increases, the cost of the BOM (Bill of Materials) and the cost of manufacturing would increase as a result, which could potentially have a big impact on consoles.

He also stated, however, that for the rest of the calendar year 2026, Sony has acquired the necessary volume of materials it needs and has “to a certain extent agreed on the price itself”.

Totoki then moved on to the PlayStation 6, saying there had not yet been an official decision on when to release the console and how much to sell it for, because the upcoming component situation isn’t yet clear.

“We have not yet decided on at what timing we will launch the new console, or at what prices,” Totoki said, via Sony’s translator. “So we would like to really observe and follow the situation.

“Looking at the current circumstances, the memory price is also expected to be very high FY 2027, because there will still be a shortage of supply. So under that assumption, we must think carefully what we will do.”

Totoki added that, as well as thinking of other ways to reduce the costs of the hardware in other areas, Sony will consider new potential ways to sell the PS6.

“We would like to think about various simulations, including changing business models to come up with the best solution and strategy,” he said.

He also noted that the number of active users on PlayStation’s platforms continues to grow, “so it’s not that the demand has gone down,” meaning Sony has time to think about its strategy for the next generation.

It should be noted that Sony translates its financial reports in English via a real-time translator, and sometimes revises its official translation at a later date to clarify or correct statements made via the translator.

The release date and price of PlayStation 6 has been the subject of debate among analysts for some time now, especially as the growth in AI has led to shortages in RAM and subsequent component price increases.

Earlier this year David Gibson, senior analyst at MST Financial, posted a report suggesting that PlayStation 6 isn’t likely to release any time soon, and that previous forecasts on its release window may not be accurate. “Sony expects the PS5’s lifecycle to be extended, and the PS6’s release is likely to be delayed longer than many expected,” he claimed.

Elsewhere in Sony’s results, the company reported a $765 million impairment loss related to Bungie assets, following the release of its extraction shooter Marathon. Sony has not said how the game has performed since its release earlier this year.

Commenting on PlayStation’s results, Dr Serkan Toto, CEO of Japanese games industry consultancy firm Kantan Games, told VGC he expects the impending release of GTA 6 to greatly benefit PS5 sales this year.

“I am a GTA 6 bull, much more so than other analysts. While I do not believe even this game can magically revitalize the entire industry, its release will significantly drive PS5 sales – despite the now higher price. If GTA 6 does not get delayed into 2027, it will be all that Sony needs this year.”