On February 3, Sony revealed that the sales of its new PlayStation 5 console has reached 4.5 million units in the last three months of 2020.

Sony reported operating profit of 359.2 billion Japanese yen or $3.4 billion from October 2020 to December 2020.

The numbers are up 20% from the same period back in 2019 and is breaking records. The revenues for the last quarter came in at 2.7 trillion Japanese yen, which is up 9% in annual revenues.

Sony sold 4.5 million PS5 consoles

Sony increased its profit forecast for the 12 months until March 2021 to 940 billion Japanese yen, which is up 34% from the 700 billion Japanese yen that the company previously predicted, according to IGN.

The sales are now expected to reach up to 8.8 trillion yen in the fiscal full year, and up 4% from the 8.5 trillion yen that it had predicted in October 2020.

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The company stated that its sales at its gaming division increased 40% to 883.2 billion yen. This was all thanks to the launch of its PS5 console and game software in November 2020. The console posted operating income of 80.2 billion yen, which is an increase of 50% from 2019.

Profits from these sales were helped by software and network services sales, but it was weighed down by costs that are connected to the PS5, which Sony stated was being sold at a loss, according to The Verge.

Sony vs. Microsoft

PS5 is the successor of Sony's PS4 console. It was released on November 12, 2020 and it thrived in improved graphics and amazing performance. It also have exclusive titles that players can't find on other consoles.

Showing success in the market, Sony went head-to-head with Microsoft after the latter launched its Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S that are tied up with a paid subscription plan in an attempt to lure players. Still, Sony won when it came to console sales.

In 2020, Sony shipped 4.5 million PS5 consoles, it is expected to have sold 17.8 million units until the end of 2021, according to Omdia, and by 2024 it is expected it will sell around 63.9 million units, according to GFinityESports.

Meanwhile, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S are expected to reach 12.1 million units in 2021 and 41.8 million units by 2024. Both of the consoles from PlayStation and Xbox are sold more than $500 each.

The sales of PS5 is the same as that of PS4, which also sold 4.5 million units in its first three months. The supply has been such an issue for PS5 due to the shortage of semiconductors.

When it comes to first-party exclusives, Sony is winning the battle. This is Microsoft's weakness, but lately has been investing more in games in order to catch up.

Microsoft recently acquired Bethesda Softworks, the game developer behind "Fallout" and "The Elder Scrolls" for $7.5 billion. Despite this effort, Microsoft still has a lot of catching up to do.

Sony, on the other hand, got Marvel's "Spider-Man: Miles Morales" as an exclusive, and has since sold 4.1 million units as of December 2020.

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Written by Sieeka Khan