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The story
For the fiscal year ending March 2027, Sony Group’s Game & Network Services segment is projected to post sales of ¥4.4 trillion and operating profit of ¥660 billion (a 15% margin). Nintendo, meanwhile, expects game segment sales of ¥2.05 trillion and operating profit of ¥370 billion (an 18% margin), with company-wide net profit of ¥310 billion. On 5ch’s hardware/industry board, opinions split between posters praising Sony for its far larger scale and others questioning a simple comparison, citing the higher margin and the lack of a disclosed net-profit figure for the segment — sparking a lively debate.
What people said
Sales: ¥4.7 trillion (a new record high every year)
Profit: ¥470 billion
Software units sold: 320 million
Profit: ¥470 billion
Software units sold: 320 million
Man, Sony really is something.
Honestly, since they stopped announcing software sales in "10,000-unit" figures, it's pretty clear sales aren't great.
But doesn't that mean they've built a business model that turns a profit even when hardware doesn't sell?
Not trolling here, but they've built a business that breaks from the old common sense of "make your money selling games and consoles."
Honestly, since they stopped announcing software sales in "10,000-unit" figures, it's pretty clear sales aren't great.
But doesn't that mean they've built a business model that turns a profit even when hardware doesn't sell?
Not trolling here, but they've built a business that breaks from the old common sense of "make your money selling games and consoles."
2026 (FY ending March 2027) earnings forecast comparison (with margins and company-wide net profit)
■ Nintendo (essentially a single game business)
・Game sales: ¥2.05 trillion
・Game operating profit: ¥370 billion (operating margin: 18.0%)
・Company-wide net profit: ¥310 billion *effectively the game business's bottom line
■ Sony Group (Game & Network Services segment)
・Game sales: ¥4.4 trillion
・Game operating profit: ¥660 billion (operating margin: 15.0%)
・Game segment net profit: not disclosed (segment-level bottom line isn't published)
————————————————–
*(Reference) Sony Group's full company-wide net profit forecast: ¥1.21 trillion
■ Nintendo (essentially a single game business)
・Game sales: ¥2.05 trillion
・Game operating profit: ¥370 billion (operating margin: 18.0%)
・Company-wide net profit: ¥310 billion *effectively the game business's bottom line
■ Sony Group (Game & Network Services segment)
・Game sales: ¥4.4 trillion
・Game operating profit: ¥660 billion (operating margin: 15.0%)
・Game segment net profit: not disclosed (segment-level bottom line isn't published)
————————————————–
*(Reference) Sony Group's full company-wide net profit forecast: ¥1.21 trillion
Re: #7
That's a staggering gap once again.
PS is just too strong.
That's a staggering gap once again.
PS is just too strong.
In a launch year you're booking R&D costs for the Switch 2 hardware itself, and since the console hasn't spread widely yet there's a low ceiling on software sales — so both revenue and profit dip.
Year 4 onward is when it'll peak.
Year 4 onward is when it'll peak.
Re: #14
Aren't they booking R&D costs every year anyway?
Or are they front-loading 8 years' worth at once? (lol)
Aren't they booking R&D costs every year anyway?
Or are they front-loading 8 years' worth at once? (lol)
Honestly it's kind of pitiful picturing people desperately grinding through trash games on a trash machine like the Switch.
Re: #16
You're the one playing trash on your console, aren't you? Or do you not even play it, just bask in the feeling of owning one?
Most domestic PS users, aside from a small core, don't even buy new releases — yet you talk big. (lol)
Guess that's the fate of owners of hardware that's great on paper but doesn't sell?
You're the one playing trash on your console, aren't you? Or do you not even play it, just bask in the feeling of owning one?
Most domestic PS users, aside from a small core, don't even buy new releases — yet you talk big. (lol)
Guess that's the fate of owners of hardware that's great on paper but doesn't sell?
But they're dropping the disc drive.
Re: #19
Laying off staff like crazy.
Laying off staff like crazy.
■PS5 is bombing hard in North America. Even with GTA6 announced, it's only selling 1/6th as much as the Switch 2 😭
Switch 2: 6,000 units in a week
(Price hike overseas on Sept 1, and even after slowing down, this is still the result)
https://www.amazon.com/clp/B0F3GWXLTS
PS5: 1,000 units in a week (lol)
https://www.amazon.com/clp/B0FRGMYJMG/
This is so bad it's actually hilarious lmao
Switch 2: 6,000 units in a week
(Price hike overseas on Sept 1, and even after slowing down, this is still the result)
https://www.amazon.com/clp/B0F3GWXLTS
PS5: 1,000 units in a week (lol)
https://www.amazon.com/clp/B0FRGMYJMG/
This is so bad it's actually hilarious lmao
On profit margin, Sony gets crushed… 🤮
Re: #26
It's the R&D spending.
Nintendo: ¥300 billion profit against ¥150 billion R&D.
Sony: ¥400 billion profit against ¥300 billion R&D.
No wonder the margin's lower.
It's the R&D spending.
Nintendo: ¥300 billion profit against ¥150 billion R&D.
Sony: ¥400 billion profit against ¥300 billion R&D.
No wonder the margin's lower.
Sony can't sell buy-once-and-play games, so its real rival isn't Nintendo — it's smartphones.
The nickname "giant smartphone" (for PS) isn't just a joke.
The nickname "giant smartphone" (for PS) isn't just a joke.
Re: #39
They're raking in money off multiplatform ports of smartphone games, and you call them a rival? That's hilarious. (lol)
They're raking in money off multiplatform ports of smartphone games, and you call them a rival? That's hilarious. (lol)
It's kind of sad that you don't even know it's normal for profit to dip in the year a new console launches.
Re: #46
Funny thing is, PS5's profit actually went up in its first year. (lol)
Funny thing is, PS5's profit actually went up in its first year. (lol)
Miyamoto: First of all, I was glad the Switch lasted 8 to 9 years. I don't think this is an era where customers are chasing specs above all else anymore. My ideal is that as long as you buy the software, you can play it on whatever machine you already have at home. Smartphones have already become something that's "everywhere," after all — I think that's one form of the ideal.
Since that's the "ideal" he's describing, doesn't that make it a rival? (lol)
Since that's the "ideal" he's describing, doesn't that make it a rival? (lol)
Same as how the Famicom (NES) once got totally crushed by PlayStation and lost its dominance —
hardware that's inferior is simply doomed to fade away.
And on top of that, "Owatendo" (a mocking nickname meaning "Nintendo is finished") can't even undercut on price anymore, so they're completely cornered.
hardware that's inferior is simply doomed to fade away.
And on top of that, "Owatendo" (a mocking nickname meaning "Nintendo is finished") can't even undercut on price anymore, so they're completely cornered.
Re: #56
I'd say PS is the one that's inferior on hardware.
It's just big.
I'd say PS is the one that's inferior on hardware.
It's just big.
Re: #1
While PS software sales are almost entirely PS5,
for Switch, out of 32 million units it looks like the original Switch accounts for 24 million and Switch 2 only 8 million.
Switch 2 really isn't selling at all.
Makes you wonder why they even bothered releasing it.
While PS software sales are almost entirely PS5,
for Switch, out of 32 million units it looks like the original Switch accounts for 24 million and Switch 2 only 8 million.
Switch 2 really isn't selling at all.
Makes you wonder why they even bothered releasing it.
Re: #66
Correction:
Original Switch: 24 million
Switch 2: 8 million
Correction:
Original Switch: 24 million
Switch 2: 8 million
Wasn't Nintendo building some kind of building recently?
Re: #72
Maybe they were?
Nintendo could probably build buildings to their heart's content.
Putting up one wouldn't make a dent, and building a hundred would be easy for them too.
They could probably even dabble in real estate as a side business without breaking a sweat.
Maybe they were?
Nintendo could probably build buildings to their heart's content.
Putting up one wouldn't make a dent, and building a hundred would be easy for them too.
They could probably even dabble in real estate as a side business without breaking a sweat.
It's funny how Sony crushes it in earnings, yet its presence in the gaming industry feels smaller than Nintendo's.
Same old story — Sony loses if you look at SIE's standalone earnings filed in the official gazette.
Also, the segment breakdown doesn't include advertising expenses.
Also, the segment breakdown doesn't include advertising expenses.
Re: #79
SIE is actually the combination of the Inc. and the LLC, so comparing it against just the Japanese entity alone doesn't make sense.
SIE is actually the combination of the Inc. and the LLC, so comparing it against just the Japanese entity alone doesn't make sense.
Re: #79
What's your source for advertising expenses not being included in the segment breakdown?
Why would they possibly leave game-related ad spend out of G&NS? That makes no sense.
What's your source for advertising expenses not being included in the segment breakdown?
Why would they possibly leave game-related ad spend out of G&NS? That makes no sense.
Re: #91
That's not even a Sony game.
That's not even a Sony game.
Re: #92
Guess Microsoft is the strongest after all. (lol)
Guess Microsoft is the strongest after all. (lol)
Re: #93
Microsoft's financial firepower really is unmatched.
But they just bought up hit franchises, so it's the same kind of story as "Arab oil billionaires are amazing" — it's not really their own achievement.
Microsoft's financial firepower really is unmatched.
But they just bought up hit franchises, so it's the same kind of story as "Arab oil billionaires are amazing" — it's not really their own achievement.
Re: #99
Microsoft Flight Simulator, Halo, Forza, Gears, Age of Empires — Microsoft has its own long-running in-house IPs. What does Sony have?
That prized Concord of theirs? I mean, they've practically got Concord 2 and 3 out by now, right? (sarcasm — Concord was Sony's live-service shooter that flopped and got pulled almost immediately after launch)
Microsoft Flight Simulator, Halo, Forza, Gears, Age of Empires — Microsoft has its own long-running in-house IPs. What does Sony have?
That prized Concord of theirs? I mean, they've practically got Concord 2 and 3 out by now, right? (sarcasm — Concord was Sony's live-service shooter that flopped and got pulled almost immediately after launch)
Nobody could've predicted it would peak out in its very first year.
Though even if you'd called it last year, people would've just laughed at you.
Though even if you'd called it last year, people would've just laughed at you.
Re: #100
No one expected prices to shoot up like that.
Without the price hike they probably could've kept up the fastest-ever sales pace, so that's just bad luck.
Sony's fine since they can keep riding the PS5, but launching a brand-new console is rough.
No one expected prices to shoot up like that.
Without the price hike they probably could've kept up the fastest-ever sales pace, so that's just bad luck.
Sony's fine since they can keep riding the PS5, but launching a brand-new console is rough.
Background and key points of the debate
Nintendo is in the launch year of its new Switch 2 hardware, a period typically marked by heavy upfront investment and R&D spending, yet its operating margin (18%) still comes out ahead of Sony’s (15%). On the other hand, Sony’s game segment revenue of ¥4.4 trillion is more than double Nintendo’s ¥2.05 trillion, and the thread split over whether to weigh “scale” or “margin” more heavily. It’s also easy to overlook that Sony doesn’t disclose net profit for its game segment alone, and there were pointed comments about how advertising expenses are categorized in the filings — meaning which figures you focus on can flip the impression of who “won.” Judging management performance on a simple revenue comparison alone would be premature.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry, a.k.a. “Geha”) thread “Earnings reveal that even in FY2025, Sony’s PS5 is crushing it, utterly beating trash Nintendo lmaooo.”
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