Gaming Console Arms Race Heats Up

The Sony Playstation 5 is moving into the black, while Nintendo is planning a Switch switch.

Sony revealed in an investor presentation that the PS5, released in November 2020, will become profitable in June, as the cost of selling the console drops below its wholesale price. 

• Women constitute 41% of the PS4 and PS5 markets, up from 18% for the PS1, per Sony. 
• The PS5 has already sold more units — 7.8 million — than the 7.6 million the PS4 sold in its first year. Sony projects the PS5 to beat the PS4’s second-year figure of 14.8 million sales.
• The company sees the global gaming market growing from $254 billion this year to $304 billion in 2025. Most of that growth will come from mobile gaming, which is more than half the market. 

Meanwhile, Nintendo is developing its answer to the Playstation 5 and the XBox Series X models. An upgraded Nintendo Switch could be available as soon as September and will have a higher price point than the current Switch’s $299. 

Nintendo is adding a 7-inch Samsung OLED display and graphics silicon from Nvidia that can support 4K TVs. The company may unveil the new console at the E3 online trade show in June. It will continue selling the Switch Lite ($199) but phase out the current Switch.

Xbox will showcase a new lineup of games at E3 from Bethesda, Xbox Game Studios, and other partner studios. 

The Switch, PS5, and latest Xbox models have all dealt with bottlenecked supply issues, largely due to the global semiconductor chip shortage.