Global shipments of the PlayStation 4 neared 114 million in the last fiscal quarter of the current generation -- but all of the growth for Sony's games business came from digital sales.
PlayStation 4 shipped a further 1.5 million units in the three-month period ended September 30, 2020. This was down from 2.8 million in the same quarter last year -- an expected trend so close to the dawn of a new generation.
However, the growing importance of digital revenue in the current generation meant the decline in hardware sales was not keenly felt on Sony Interactive Entertainment's bottom line.
Sony Corp.'s Games & Network Services division reported ¥507 billion ($4.9 billion) in revenue for the second fiscal quarter, up 12% over the prior year. Operating income for the period was ¥105 billion ($1 billion), up 62% year-on-year.
The majority of that money came directly from digital sources, with ¥297 billion ($2.8 billion) from downloaded software and add-ons, and a further ¥96 billion ($920 million) from network services -- together, they represented 77% of all Sony's games revenue, up from 71% last year.
The split between digital and physical full-game sales was 59% in favour of digital. In the same quarter Last year, 55% of full-game sales were physical.

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