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Sony Q1 2016: 3.5M PS4, Game division posts 44 billion yen operating profit

Inuhanyou

Believes Dragon Quest is a franchise managed by Sony
Yes Sony is doing great but it is a disaster for everyone else. The rumors about the NX suggest Nintendo is basically leaving the home console business. MS will be lucky to do half of what they did last generation. Basically the market will shrink to the size it was in the PS2 ERA at best.

Sony is very lucky they made homes in places MS and Nintendo didn't dare to venture, or else they'd be in the same predicament as the other two.

The fact remains though that they did, and PS is reaping the rewards of that
 

LifEndz

Member
Sony’s PlayStation division accounted for 78% of its Q1 2016 profits

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Holy shit. For us older guys that remember how prestigious owning a Sony TV was, that's a crazy number. Gaming is the future! Kudos to Sony. Good job, Kaz!
 

THE:MILKMAN

Member
Probably been pointed out already but a lot of people said that confirming/announcing Neo would kill PS4 sales. Sony post their best Q1 result for PS4 so far...
 

ethomaz

Banned
Probably been pointed out already but a lot of people said that confirming/announcing Neo would kill PS4 sales. Sony post their best Q1 result for PS4 so far...
They didn't announced Neo yet... so no affect at all... nobody knows about it except small (small compared with the market Sony sells consoles... we are the 1% of gamers) forums like GAF.
 
They didn't announced Neo yet... so no affect at all... nobody knows about it.
To be fair, he also said "confirming" which they did do. :p

But yeah, I said the same thing earlier. The masses do not know about Neo. Some on Gaf would swear otherwise but yeah. Go ask about 100 hundred people on the street what Neo is and they'll just make some reference to Matrix and call it a day.
 
That is what happens when Sony releases a well developed console regardless of what their competitors do.

Even at their worst, Sony was still in the ballpark with their competitors.
Exactly. Sony succeeded because good management made good decisions. The competitors actions were icing on the cake
 

Unknown?

Member
Exactly. Sony succeeded because good management made good decisions. The competitors actions were icing on the cake

It was good marketing but at the end of the day you don't have the games to back it up, it won't matter. PS4 just has far more games than its competitors and that's why it keeps doing better.
 

THE:MILKMAN

Member
They didn't announced Neo yet... so no affect at all... nobody knows about it except small (small compared with the market Sony sells consoles... we are the 1% of gamers) forums like GAF.

They did by stating it wasn't going to be at E3 and other interviews Andrew House did with the press. They just haven't shown it off. Also the casuals that I know came asking what the rumours were about the next day after the leaks before I had chance to tell them.

Social media means everyone is informed instantly these days whether they care or not.
 

Bastables

Member
You are in a thread about financial results yet you want to compare the companies based on their ability to build military defence and ships?!?!

Lmao you must be very young indeed. That's not how these threads work.
You're in a thread about quarterly financial results and start blithering on about market caps of a much larger company involved in heavy industry in order to create a disingenuous argument: success=failure.

I mean I do know these threads do tend to have wankers construct single sentence company x is doomed, but such fuckwittery is a bit much on a thread detailing/ discussing positive financial reports.
 

Gurish

Member
Don't think we ever going to see another gen like last gen .
Plus while all 3 had really good sales last gen it was full with other problems .
And those were?

Yes Sony is doing great but it is a disaster for everyone else. The rumors about the NX suggest Nintendo is basically leaving the home console business. MS will be lucky to do half of what they did last generation. Basically the market will shrink to the size it was in the PS2 ERA at best.

Yea, it's not like Sony's fault in anyway, just seems like the market might have shrunk, they are probably satisfied that they are doing better than ever under such conditions.

I'm not optimistic about the consoles industry as well.
 
Kaz has really done a good job so far and their gaming division is doing amazing. Well deserved as well.
It's worth noting that Kaz is the 2nd highest paid Japanese CEO of a Japanese company.

He's a sort of fan favorite but he's genuinely a top global exec, too. His pay has doubled or something in the last few years.

Japanese CEOs in general aren't paid very high by U.S. standards (don't think he'd even be in the top 300) but he's also paid mostly in cash, whereas U.S. CEOs are mostly paid in equity.
 
It was good marketing but at the end of the day you don't have the games to back it up, it won't matter. PS4 just has far more games than its competitors and that's why it keeps doing better.
Nah, multiplats sell consoles, where your friends are and value are more important, exclusives are a bonus
 
Congratulations to Sony. Nice to see them recovering from last decade - Financially at least.

But it's kinda pathetic in a way unfortunately - Back in the day Sony was a consumer-tech EMPIRE. Now they're just PlayStation, trying to leverage their other brands with it to varying degrees of failure (Xperia Play, and those 3DTVs optimized for the PS3 for example).

Glad to see PlayStation is carrying them - Sad to see the loss of the company's diversity in the face of Samsung and others eating their lunch last decade. Don't want to see them become a one-trick-pony like Nintendo who have to rely on a single specific product being a success to survive (And on that front, NX HYPE.)
 
They didn't announced Neo yet... so no affect at all... nobody knows about it except small (small compared with the market Sony sells consoles... we are the 1% of gamers) forums like GAF.

Hm, not so sure about that. Articles about Neo can be found in any gaming-related website and journal. It was even a topic within Germany's #1 tabloid Bild. Now, I am with you that the majority of gamers doesn't know about Neo yet, but I doubt it's just 1%.
 
You're in a thread about quarterly financial results and start blithering on about market caps of a much larger company involved in heavy industry in order to create a disingenuous argument: success=failure.

I mean I do know these threads do tend to have wankers construct single sentence company x is doomed, but such fuckwittery is a bit much on a thread detailing/ discussing positive financial reports.

Your claim that Sony was never bigger than Samsung is as laughable today as it was yesterday.

The way you threw your toys out the pram after being proven wrong shows you are pointless to interact with. Welcome to my ignore list.
 

Inuhanyou

Believes Dragon Quest is a franchise managed by Sony
Neo is almost entirely unlike a slim. I fear you've misunderstood nearly everything Andy has said on the subject. =/

I think your going to have to back up your claims there with some explanations. Are you saying PSNEO is not considered an extension of the PS4's hardware?
 
Yoshida said in interviews at E3 that Neo is still PS4 and they are treating both of them like the same console so of course they will share the same sales data.... I mean they are going to share literally everything else.
 

Bastables

Member
Your claim that Sony was never bigger than Samsung is as laughable today as it was yesterday.

The way you threw your toys out the pram after being proven wrong shows you are pointless to interact with. Welcome to my ignore list.

Dude Sony was never as large as Samsung....... Read my examples and note how you're arguing past that point.

Hint market capitalisation or share valuation is not a accurate indicator of size, it's a subjective value by the "market."
 

Talax

Member
So do they separately mention what progress The PS Vue has shown? I was personally thinking that might allow more growth to them if they offer a well balanced competitive service. I'm not in US so I don't really know how good its reception has been.
 
So do they separately mention what progress The PS Vue has shown? I was personally thinking that might allow more growth to them if they offer a well balanced competitive service. I'm not in US so I don't really know how good its reception has been.

No, but sources indicate they're around 100-120k subscribers.

Not a lot, but it's a ridiculously tough market out there for this business and they're currently only in US.
 

JimiNutz

Banned
Sony should focus on making PlayStations and PlayStation accessories.

PlayStation TVs (optimised specifically for gaming)
PlayStation phones (with remote play, PlayStation classic games bundled)
PlayStation headphones
PlayStation tablets etc.

Just PlayStation.
 

Felessan

Member
It feels like Sony lurches forward without any true identity compared to rivals like Apple and Samsung. I'd go as far as to say that I'm a fan of Sony products but it's strange to have such a large corporation in this day and age that has so many diverse and weirdly ill fitting component parts like Movies, video games, consumer electronics and financial services.
It's normal for asian corps to be "vertically integrated" and have a lot of buisness in completelly different areas.
Corps like Mitsubishi does everything - from banking to heavy industry, from military stuff to brewing beer, from cars to electronics.
Samsung too have, besides elestronics, everything from banking branch to heavy industry, chemical business, hotels, construction etc.

Glad to see PlayStation is carrying them - Sad to see the loss of the company's diversity in the face of Samsung and others eating their lunch last decade. Don't want to see them become a one-trick-pony like Nintendo who have to rely on a single specific product being a success to survive (And on that front, NX HYPE.)
Playstation becomes big, but is still not the BIGGEST profit driver of Sony. Don't spread misinterpretation of numbers.
Sony profitable buiseness are
1. Financial Services - 48bn yen (35% of profits)
2. Playstation - 44bn yen (33% of profits)
3. Home Entertainment & Sound - 20bn yen (15% of profits)
4. Sony Music - 15bn yen (11% of profits)
5. Imaging products - 7.5bn yen (5% of profits)

People just lump non-profitable business into profitable and compare result to gaming. It is a wrong way (you can lump those nonprofitable segments into playstation to make it looks very bad)
 

Talax

Member
No, but sources indicate they're around 100-120k subscribers.

Not a lot, but it's a ridiculously tough market out there for this business and they're currently only in US.
I see. Well hopefully they will expand into other regions especially Europe. I think it has a lot of room for growth now.
 

Welfare

Member
I think your going to have to back up your claims there with some explanations. Are you saying PSNEO is not considered an extension of the PS4's hardware?
Slim models are replacements of the regular model. Neo is a completely different product than what a Slim would be, which is replacing the PS4.

Sony are doing just what Nintendo does with their handheld line, and Microsoft will do the same with Xbox One and Scorpio.
 

Mr Swine

Banned
Great news for Sony :) bodes well for them now that Nintendo and Microsoft are weak. I guess they could even have a bigger market share next ten with PS5!
 

IvanJ

Banned
I see. Well hopefully they will expand into other regions especially Europe. I think it has a lot of room for growth now.

I don't see how PSVue would even be relevant in Europe.
In the US, they charge $30 per month for a limited selection of TV channels. And for the US, that can be a good deal.

But for €30 here, I get not only about 120 TV channels, but also unlimited phonecalls and unlimited Internet (only 50 Mbps, but that is enough for me).

They would need to practically give PSVue away for free to get people to use it (especially since they probably wouldn't have live football from Top 5 leagues, Champions league or Formula 1).
 

jroc74

Phone reception is more important to me than human rights
I think your going to have to back up your claims there with some explanations. Are you saying PSNEO is not considered an extension of the PS4's hardware?
I don't think he caught it.

I get it, they will have the same base name...PS4.

Y'all were on the same page but got there differently.
 

Talax

Member
I don't see how PSVue would even be relevant in Europe.
In the US, they charge $30 per month for a limited selection of TV channels. And for the US, that can be a good deal.

But for €30 here, I get not only about 120 TV channels, but also unlimited phonecalls and unlimited Internet (only 50 Mbps, but that is enough for me).

They would need to practically give PSVue away for free to get people to use it (especially since they probably wouldn't have live football from Top 5 leagues, Champions league or Formula 1).
Well they can adjust the pricing accordingly I guess. I wasn't much talking about how they penetrate the market but more about whether they will do it or not. If they consider it feasible at lower than market rates then they'll go ahead hopefully.
But anyway judging by your package for 30, I see what you mean about relevance.
 
I think your going to have to back up your claims there with some explanations. Are you saying PSNEO is not considered an extension of the PS4's hardware?
No, I'm actually saying it is an extension and improvement of PS4 hardware, as opposed to a slim, which is a replacement for the existing hardware. Neo is a half-step towards next gen in the same sense that the iPhone 6S is a half-step towards the iPhone 7.

But while Neo is currently tied to PS4 in terms of compatibility, I don't think that will always be the case, and what you seem to see as confirmation of Neo's imminent obsolescence, I see as the opposite. You're certain that despite the substantially higher cost and performance of Neo, it will be obsoleted when the next hardware drops, because "it's just a PS4." However, it seems to me that House explicitly dismissed such a notion when he said nobody would be expected to replace their hardware after a couple of years, but rather every 5-6 years, as one would normally replace their console. He didn't say, "Nobody should need to replace their console after two years apart from Neo buyers," yet that's somehow what you heard.

If we take House at his word, and everyone should expect their brand-new PlayStation to last them six years, even when new hardware is now coming every three years, then the most reasonable interpretation is that the policy is, "Support for n-1 is mandated," and this will continue to be the policy going forward, with the addition of, "… and support for n-3 is strongly encouraged," as new hardware iterations permit.

Is this an abandonment of traditional console generations? Sure, in some sense it is. Perhaps that's why Shu candidly told Lorne Lanning that, "[PS5]'s an if." If all Trinity games run on Neo but not necessarily on PS4, then is she truly a PS5, or not? Maybe they're all just PlayStations now?

The truth is, it doesn't matter to Sony, and it shouldn't matter to you either. For Sony, traditional generations mean a ton of investment in return for the opportunity to lose your entire customer base. For developers, it means trashing all of the work you've refined over the last few years and starting again. For gamers, it means buying new hardware only to sit through a couple of years of scarce and buggy games while developers get a handle on all of the new stuff.

Gradually phasing in more performant hardware while gradually phasing out the less performant hardware just makes more sense for everyone involved. I realize different is sorta scary, but I do think this change is for the best, for all concerned.
 

Inuhanyou

Believes Dragon Quest is a franchise managed by Sony
Slim models are replacements of the regular model. Neo is a completely different product than what a Slim would be, which is replacing the PS4.

Sony are doing just what Nintendo does with their handheld line, and Microsoft will do the same with Xbox One and Scorpio.

NEO isn't replacing PS4 though. And i would say NEO is a different product than Scorpio is, which MS can't decide is a full generational leap to advertise as such, or an upgraded model apart of a family of forever forward compatible models
 

Inuhanyou

Believes Dragon Quest is a franchise managed by Sony

My view is that NEO is merely an upgraded PS4 and plays all of PS4 generation games, and is limited to PS4's library. PS5 itself will be a product that bucks forward compatibility but will support full backwards compatibility with PS4 and NEO. Allowing its own brand of games to take advantage of the hardware. And perhaps a PS5 NEO will come out and repeat the cycle.

House has said that Sony does not want to destroy the concept of generations, as they are advantageous to them. And so i do not see your view of NEO becoming the base standard at some point as feasible.

Especially considering that the hardware itself is not a big enough gap to become a base standard outside of more graphical rendering potential. BW is only 25% more, CPU is only 30% more. Strong enough for an incrementally more powerful unit, but not enough for a full on upgrade.
 
My view is that NEO is merely an upgraded PS4 and plays all of PS4 generation games, and is limited to PS4's library. PS5 itself will be a product that bucks forward compatibility but will support full backwards compatibility with PS4 and NEO. Allowing its own brand of games to take advantage of the hardware. And perhaps a PS5 NEO will come out and repeat the cycle.
Yes, and I say that contradicts House's assurances that PlayStations get 5-6 years of full support from the time they launch. PS4 owners are currently being reassured they won't be forgotten simply because something a few years newer came along, but you haven't shown where they said the same won't apply equally to Neo buyers, nor explained why that should be the case. With the assurances that (currently) Neo can't do anything unique because PS4 isn't ready to be left behind just yet, "three years newer" is quite literally the only selling point for Neo. So how do you explain in 2020 that "three years newer" somehow now means "actually just as useless as the one you could've had for far cheaper." How you gonna do me like that after I just paid you top dollar for the newest one, Andy??

House has said that Sony does not want to destroy the concept of generations, as they are advantageous to them.
Can I get a link for that, because I suspect it's another misunderstanding. Generations are all kinds of bad news for reasons I explained before, but first and foremost, every time Sony tells people the PlayStation they own isn't good enough anymore, they're inviting them to buy someone else's hardware instead. So the best plan is the one that cuts off the smallest/least-active part of your user base, but you propose to cut off everyone, including the big spenders who just bought in to your platform.

To what end? Moving software is the goal, while moving hardware is the necessary evil that lets games happen. This applies equally to both supply and consumption. The more we can minimize hardware-induced disruptions to software delivery, the better off we'll be, as devs and as gamers.

And so i do not see your view of NEO becoming the base standard at some point as feasible.

Especially considering that the hardware itself is not a big enough gap to become a base standard outside of more graphical rendering potential. BW is only 25% more, CPU is only 30% more. Strong enough for an incrementally more powerful unit, but not enough for a full on upgrade.
Well, three years is three years. If you don't find PS4->Neo a compelling bump, I doubt you'll be any more impressed by Neo->Trinity. PS4->Trinity will compare favorably, of course, but that's the six-year gap House says people will naturally be looking at on their own. So like smartphones, people are expected to tick-tock, but with three-year gaps between hardware rather than annual refreshes. Why? Because annual refreshes increase hardware fragmentation without appreciable performance differentiation. As House said, they want to provide devs with a more stable target than that. Doubling hardware refreshes to every-three literally provides the proverbial Happy Medium. Not only are you free to completely ignore the "tock" iterations — no matter when you buy in to PlayStation — you're actually expected to.

Yes, this strategy works best when the latest and greatest hardware is indeed the latest and greatest, and I know you've argued in favor of intentionally hobbling Neo with old tech, both to prevent devs from becoming too ambitious and to increase the appeal of PS5 upon its release, but such a strategy furthers neither goal. Mandating support for n-1 already keeps devs well grounded while leaving them with a place to include all the bells and whistles that normally come at the cost of performance hits. More to the point, Trinity's specs are what they are, and their appeal is what it is. Gimping Neo doesn't make Trinity any more appealing, it just serves to reduce Neo's appeal even further than you have already by promising its increased price and performance merely buys its imminent obsolescence.

Fortunately, more frequent hardware updates and the introduction of a "premium model" gives you more flexibility when it comes to release timing. If releasing at GDC instead of ~PSVR means Neo gets Polaris or any other substantial improvements, Neo buyers will be more than okay with the wait, and everyone else doesn't care about Neo at all, regardless of the specs. Similarly, we can pencil Trinity in for GDC 2020 and expect her to have a mature Navi platform, but if Navi 2 is due later that year, then yeah, definitely wait for it. If Navi 2 isn't due until Holiday 2021 however, then yeah, do Navi "on schedule" at GDC '20, and we'll just catch Navi 3 (or 4) on the next cycle.
 

Inuhanyou

Believes Dragon Quest is a franchise managed by Sony
I just disagree server. I never engaged you to debate my point. All i can say is that i don't see it in that manner.
 
I just disagree server. I never engaged you to debate my point. All i can say is that i don't see it in that manner.
Well, yes, but despite your unwillingness to discuss the validity of your claims, you're quite eager to continue presenting them as such. Hence my disappointment, as you're generally pretty reasonable. <3
 

Inuhanyou

Believes Dragon Quest is a franchise managed by Sony
Well, yes, but despite your unwillingness to discuss the validity of your claims, you're quite eager to continue presenting them as such. Hence my disappointment, as you're generally pretty reasonable. <3

Eh? Which claims? I just think that, based on House's statements on NEO, that its not intended to be a new console unto itself and is far closer to an envisioned slim as a midgen refresh of the PS4 ecosystem than a new console they will sell as a separate unit from PS4.

Its not something i thin we can claim one way or the other definitively for a while, since NEO isn't even officially out yet, but that's just my feeling based on House's interviews about the subject.

If your talking about me digging up those statements he made that make me feel that way, i'll be happy to do that, just let me know if that's what your saying
 
If your talking about me digging up those statements he made that make me feel that way, i'll be happy to do that, just let me know if that's what your saying
I've asked you for links and explanations lots of times. Like just a minute ago, when you said House said they wanted to keep traditional generations and I asked for a link, and you said you weren't looking for a debate. ;p
 

Inuhanyou

Believes Dragon Quest is a franchise managed by Sony
I've asked you for links and explanations lots of times. Like just a minute ago, when you said House said they wanted to keep traditional generations and I asked for a link, and you said you weren't looking for a debate. ;p

That wasn't a minute ago though. But in any case, i will do as you say

https://www.theguardian.com/technol...n-boss-andrew-house-ps4-neo-microsoft-scorpio

On the subject of PlayStation 4 Neo, House said that the new machine will very much be something that stands aside the original hardware &#8211; it&#8217;s not a replacement, and both machines will be supported throughout the PS4 lifecycle. &#8220;I don&#8217;t think we&#8217;re suggesting with Neo, the conventional console lifecycle is over &#8211; I&#8217;m certainly not making that statement,&#8221; he said. &#8220;This is an additional option, it&#8217;s a high-end version of a PlayStation 4, let&#8217;s be very clear about that, rather than a generational shift.&#8221;

&#8220;I&#8217;m not suggesting we want to bring the games industry to an 18-month-two-year cycle because then you would lose an awful lot of the fixed platform benefits we&#8217;ve enjoyed that allow for these really great leaps in game experience.

&#8220;However, we did think there was an opportunity to reflect on the traditional lifecycle, and on 4K technology, and say maybe there&#8217;s an opportunity, within the course of a normal lifecycle to offer something else, something a little bit better, for a segment of the market that feels that this is important.&#8221;

Basically, NEO was made for the purpose of a marginally upgraded machine to the base numbered unit in the grand scheme of things, designed to play the games made for the numbered unit at a higher level, not intended to be a brand new platform. I think they will go forward like this, with the numbered unit being their true refresh, and the potential NEO midgen console being a marginal upgrade of that same tech to play those games designed for it better.
 
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