Sony: PlayStation 5 to significantly raise earnings to $23 billion

Sony's next-gen PlayStation 5 is expected to help boost total FY2020 yearly earnings to $23 billion.

The PlayStation 5 is forecast to strongly boost Sony's yearly games earnings to $23.23 billion, up 26.4% from the $18.19 billion earned in FY19. Based on the numbers, Sony doesn't see any problem selling all of the PS5 consoles it makes available for the holiday period.

"Sales are expected to increase significantly year-on-year mainly due to an expected significant increase in sales of game software and hardware as a result of the launch of PS5," Sony said in its recent Q1'20 earnings report.

The FY2020 earnings numbers include PS4 console and game sales, too.

The PS4 will live alongside the PS5 for years to come, and Sony has confirmed current-gen support for at least 2022. Sony also confirmed new first-party PS4 games will still launch after the PS5.

For reference on how PS4 will also materially contribute to these earnings, here's a brief run-down of last year's performance.

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Sony's FY2019 sales were down thanks to COVID-19 disruption and weaker exchange rates. PlayStation made $18.19 billion in net sales, and PS4 games made up 57% of those earnings, or $10.38 billion. PS4 hardware sales were 13.6 million, the lowest point since the console's launch in 2013.

These numbers should adjust lower for the PS4 platform once the PS5 is out, but Sony doesn't give any specifics.

The new FY2020 forecast also predicts PlayStation will make up 30% of the company's total net sales, up from 24% in FY2019.

Sources say Sony wants to manufacture and produce 9-10 million PlayStation 5 consoles this fiscal year to meet strong demand, but not all of those will be ready for sale during the holiday period.

Other sources say that Sony expects the PlayStation 5 to sell 120 million units by 2025, which would beat the PS4's current sales milestone by over 6 million units.