Sony sold 4 million PS4s last quarter, and that’s before the holiday price cut

Sony has released its financial report for the three months ending September 30, 2015 (Q2 FY15), revealing impressive sales figures for the PlayStation 4.

During the quarter, four million PS4 consoles were sold, and that's before the recent price cuts even went into effect. Comparitively, the number of consoels sold is up from the 3.3 million in the same period last year. The new figure puts the PS4's total lifetime sales at 29.3 million, almost five million more than where Sony's beloved PS2 was at the same point in its lifespan. Microsoft didn't reveal how many Xbox One's were sold in their financial results for the last quarter, but did reveal that total Xbox hardware sales were down 17 percent year-over-year, primarily as a result of slumping Xbox 360 sales.

As a result of last quarter's performance, Sony has raised the number of PS4 consoles it expects to sell this year to 17.5 million, up from its previous 16.5 million prediction. Last year it sold 14.8 million consoles. With the newly implemented price cut and an impressive 2016 lineup, there's no reason to not expect another quarter of impressive sales, even with competitive holiday deals from Microsoft with the Xbox One. Interestingly, the 2014 holiday season was one of the few times the Xbox One had actually managed to outsell the PS4, but that was when the system was $50 cheaper with very attractive bundles. This year the PS4 is priced much more competitively.

Sony also noted an "increase in PlayStation 4 software sales," though it was "partially offset" by a decrease in PlayStation 3 software sales.

Overall, the Games and Network Services division brought in over $3 billion in revenue, up 16 percent year-on-year. The company as a whole reported $15.8 billion in revenue in the second quarter, with a net profit of $280 million.