The PS5 is lagging behind Sony's sales targets

The PS5 has hit 25 million total sales, but is still lagging well behind Sony's console targets.

In financial results published early this morning, Sony announced that in the three months July to September 2022, it had shipped an additional 3.3 million PS5s, taking its overall sales figure past 25 million. That's a relatively important milestone, but it's not all good news - year-on-year, sales have stalled, as Sony shipped almost that exact number of consoles during the same period in 2021.

It also means that the company is lagging a long way behind its goals. Overall, Sony has been aiming to ship 18 million PS5 consoles in the 2022 financial year, which ends in March 2023. Halfway through the year, it's only sold 5.7 million, significantly below the nine million it would need to have pushed to be on target.

That said, Q3 is likely to be a larger-than-normal sales period for the console. Christmas and Black Friday should encourage a few extra purchases, and Sony will no doubt be hoping that the imminent launches of God of War: Ragnarok and Warzone 2 will do the same.

It's not been an easy few months for Sony, as elsewhere in its call it acknowledged a  49% drop in profits in spite of an increase in the price of a PS5 in most markets. That price hike, attached to a notably quiet summer for major releases, is likely to have hindered Sony's ongoing efforts to catch up to its targets.

Need a reminder? Here are the upcoming PS5 games to get excited about.