With rumors lingering of a major PlayStation 4 hardware refresh, Sony has reported that lifetime shipments of the console have now reached 40 million units. The company’s Game & Network Services devision, which houses the console division, PlayStation Network, and related services, continues to post big gains.

The 2016 fiscal year, which closed on March 31, showed an 11.7 percent revenue gain to ¥1,551.9 trillion ($12.4 billion). Operating income grew 46 percent ¥88.7 billion ($797 million).

PlayStation 4 adoption continues to significantly outpace the ongoing decline of PlayStation 3 sales. Revenue growth was attributed to software sales and hardware cost reductions.

Sony’s only mention of the Vita was in reference to an ¥11.2 billion write down of the handheld hardware and PlayStation TV (covered during last year’s earnings report). Overall improvements to operating income were in spite of an appreciated U.S. dollar that put Sony on the unfavorable end of currency exchange.

On the whole, Sony’s financial position is on the mend. While sales company-wide dipped 1.3 percent, operating income jumped 329.2 percent to ¥294.2 billion ($2.6 billion) and net income was in the black for the full year at ¥117.49 billion ($1.06 billion) compared to a loss of in the previous year of ¥113.04 billion ($1.02 billion).

[Source: Sony]

Our Take

Sony seems to have pulled out of a dangerous death spiral, showing a significant improvement to finances across the board. The strength of the PlayStation 4 isn’t surprising, but it again makes me question just what the company would be thinking if it releases a drastically revised hardware configuration during this generation.