Sony's profit rose 44% to $2.84 billion as PS5 shipments fell 35% and AI takes the memory
Sony's profit rose 44% to $2.84 billion even as PS5 shipments fell 35%. The DRAM being sold to AI data centers is now setting the price and timing of the next PlayStation.
Vincent Jiang · 3 min read
Sony−2.29% — Sony, down 2.29 percent today closed the September quarter with net profit of ¥449.6 billion, about $2.84 billion, up 44% from a year earlier 1. Two engines did the work. Spider-Man: Brand New Day has grossed $2.52 billion worldwide, the third-biggest film in history, and pushed Sony Pictures' quarterly earnings up 527% to $581 million 1. PlayStation software did the rest: the games division's operating income rose 83% to ¥220.1 billion, its best quarter in two fiscal years 211.
A memory shortage is holding back the consoles
The machine itself went backwards. Sony shipped 2.6 million PS5s, down 35% from 4 million a year earlier 311. Hardware revenue fell only 4.8% because each console now sells for more 2. Sony has told distribution partners that "temporary market supply constraints and high demand" will keep retail stock thin into next year 3, two weeks before Grand Theft Auto VI arrives on November 19 with pre-orders reportedly near $750 million 3. Some retailers are running lotteries for PS5 Pro stock to keep scalpers away 3.
Every PlayStation line grew except the console
Console units fell 35% while software, services and profit climbed
Data
| Year-over-year change | |
|---|---|
| PS5 shipments | -35% |
| Hardware revenue | -4.8% |
| Software revenue | 12.6% |
| Network services | 19.5% |
| Games operating income | 83% |
The wafer goes to whoever bids most
The scarce input is DRAM, the working memory inside every console. AI accelerators need high-bandwidth memory built from the same silicon, consuming roughly three times the wafer area per gigabyte, and it is set to absorb nearly 30% of DRAM wafer capacity in 2027 4.
Samsung, SK hynix+4.10% — SK hynix, up 4.10 percent today and Micron+7.33% — Micron, up 7.33 percent today have reportedly sold out their 2027 memory output under long-term contracts 5, and SK hynix chief executive Kwak Noh-jung calls 2027 the worst supply year in the memory industry's history 4. The profit on the far side of Sony's shortage is already booked: Taiwan's Nanya posted an 85.7% gross margin in the same quarter 6.
Sony pushed the costs onto buyers on April 2, 2026, raising the standard PS5 to $649.99 and the Pro to $899.99, its second increase in eight months 7.
Two hikes in eight months lifted every PlayStation $150 to $200
US list price at launch versus April 2, 2026
- Launch price
- April 2026 price
Data
| Launch price | April 2026 price | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| PS5 standard | $499.99 | $649.99 | +30.0% |
| PS5 Digital Edition | $399.99 | $599.99 | +50.0% |
| PS5 Pro | $699.99 | $899.99 | +28.6% |
Sony says its memory is already bought
Sony's answer is that it has secured memory to keep building consoles through March 2028 2, and chief financial officer Lin Tao says the next-generation PlayStation is "progressing as scheduled" 1. Two caveats. Last year's quarter carried ¥49.8 billion of one-time charges, so the clean games-profit growth was about 29% 2. And Sony has named no date or price for the PlayStation 6, while Bloomberg reported in February that the memory crisis could push its launch to 2028 or 2029 7, inside the window in which memory makers expect prices to stay high 8.
The PlayStation 6 price is the tell
Sony raised its full-year operating income forecast to ¥1.87 trillion 10 and should cross 100 million PS5s shipped during the holiday quarter 39. The number that decides this story has not been printed yet: the next PlayStation's price, set in a market where a hyperscaler will always outbid a teenager for the same wafer.
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