PS4 Sales Accelerate for Third Year in a Row

PlayStation 4 sales continued to accelerate during the third financial year since the console released in 2013, Sony has revealed.

For the twelve months between March 2015 and April this year, Sony sold about 18 million PS4s. This figure shows that, despite the PS4's strong start on the market, sales are in fact speeding up. In FY14, which was cited as a very strong twelve-month period for PlayStation, the division shipped some 15 million PS4s.

Total PS4 sales now stand above 40 million units, Sony said. By comparison, the PlayStation 3 has sold more than 80 million units worldwide as of November 2013, seven years after its initial launch. The PS4 has been available for three years.

The PS4's sustained momentum has helped the PlayStation division bring in revenues of $819 million for the financial year ending March 31.

Year-on-year revenues for the PlayStation division increased about 12 percent to $14.3 billion, while operating profit climbed 84 percent to $819 million.

Sony noted that sales of PS4 software, including those through PlayStation Network, also increased. The reduction of PS4 hardware manufacturing costs, and the elimination of Vita losses, were cited as key contributors to the stronger performance.

Overall, Sony Corporation as a whole made $75 billion in sales, which is down 1.3 percent over the same 12-month period last year. However, it reported profit at $2.7 billion, which is up 330 percent over the previous year.

Reports have suggested Sony intends to introduce a new more powerful version of the PS4 console, and is is "openly sharing [the PS4.5 specification] with developers." Reports have stated there is currently "no doubt [a new PS4] is real."

As of yet, Sony has not officially stated any intention to introduce a new model of the PS4.