PS4 Ships 3.9M Units in Last Three Months, As Sony's Game Division Slides

Sony today reported earnings for the three-month quarter ended September 30, announcing it shipped 3.9 million PlayStation 4 consoles during the July-September quarter.

That's down from 4 million PS4 consoles shipped during the same period last year. With the 3.9 million new consoles shipped, the PS4 has now shipped 47.4 million systems worldwide as of September 30. As announced previously, Sony expects to ship 20 million PS4 systems during its current fiscal year, bringing the console's lifetime shipment tally to 60 million by March 2017.

Sony's Game & Network Services division overall saw its sales slide 11.3 percent to ¥319.9 billion ($3.2 billion). The decrease, which Sony labeled as being "significant" was mainly attributed to a difficult foreign exchange rate and PS4 price drops. PS4 game sales partially offset the downturn, Sony said.

Operating income for Sony's Game & Network Services division fell to ¥14.9 billion ($188 million). Again, this decrease was attributed mainly to the PS4 price drops as well as lower PlayStation 3 sales. Partially offsetting the decrease were PS4 hardware cost reductions and the aforementioned increased game sales.

On a wider angle, Sony Corporation overall saw its sales for the quarter fall by 10.8 percent to ¥1.7 trillion yen ($16.7 billion), a downturn that it attributed "mainly" to the impact of foreign exchange rates. Operating income dropped as well, coming in at ¥45.7 billion ($453 million).

The next gaming product launch for Sony is the PlayStation 4 Pro, which goes on sale on November 10, priced at $400. GameSpot received a unit this week and we'll have lots more coverage in the days ahead.

Microsoft's Xbox One has been the best-selling console in the United States for three straight months, running July through September. October's numbers will come in later this month.

For more on how other gaming companies are doing from a business perspective, check out GameSpot's reports on the latest earnings below. Electronic Arts report earnings later today, November 1, while Sega, Take-Two, Activision, and Ubisoft are scheduled to do so later this week.

• Nintendo
• Konami
• Capcom