PS4 Already Profitable for Sony

The company considers the PS4 launch "hugely successful."

Console manufacturers often sell hardware at a loss with the plan to make up for that loss with software sales. But that’s not the case with the PlayStation 4. Sony says its new console is already being sold at a profit.

Sony President and CEO Kaz Hirai said at a corporate strategy meeting this week that the PS4 launch has been “hugely successful,” but notes Sony needs to continue growing the install base -- which is currently around 7 million.

“From a profitability perspective, PS4 is also already contributing profit on a hardware unit basis, establishing a very different business framework from that of previous platform businesses," Hirai said.

He also notes that approximately half of PS4 users are subscribed to PlayStation Plus.