That’s crucial considering that GTA 6 may cause a big bump in demand.
Whenever computer or gaming hardware is discussed these days, the “Ramageddon” memory shortage is likely to come up. In its latest <a href="https://www.sony.com/en/SonyInfo/IR/library/presen/er/pdf/26q1_sonypre.pdf” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank”>earnings report, Sony made specific mention of the issue in relation to its PS5 console as a way of assuring investors. “Regarding the impact of memory market conditions on PlayStation 5 hardware, we have secured the quantity of memory necessary to meet our projected sales volume for fiscal year 2026 [ending April 2027],” the company wrote.
The company didn’t say if it would increase prices again for the PS5 over the coming year. However, Sony may see a big holiday bump for PS5 sales since Grand Theft Auto 6 — expected to be a blockbuster — is due to be released on November 19th.
For its first quarter this fiscal year, Sony sold 1.6 million PS5 consoles, a pretty major drop from the 2.5 million it sold in the same quarter last year. It saw a similar drop last quarter, likely due to price increases caused by US tariffs and the fact that the PS5 is now six years old. Since its launch in June 2020, Sony has now shipped 95.3 million PlayStation 5s.
Despite the sales drop, Sony made more money compared to the same period last year, with sales flat but profit up 37 percent at 54.1 billion yen ($337 million). That’s due to the US tariff refunds and favorable foreign exchange rates as the yen continues to drop. Like most tariff-impacted companies, Sony pocketed the refunds rather than passing the savings on to the customers who effectively paid them.
Game sales were relatively flat, with third-party sales up but first-party shipments down by 900,000 units. That suggests Saros from PlayStation Studio’s Housemarque has underperformed expectations, as Kotaku noted. PlayStation monthly active users, meanwhile, was up 2 million to 125 million.
