PlayStation 5 gaining momentum with over 50 million units sold — two days ahead of PS4
Sony Interactive Entertainment today announced that the PlayStation 5 has now sold over 50 million consoles globally. The hardware continues to gain momentum after resolving the issue with supply shortages.
PlayStation 5 surpassed 50 million units sold on December 9, meaning it took the console just a little over 36 months (1,115 days to be exact) since its launch on November 19, 2020 to reach this milestone.
For comparison, the PlayStation 4 crossed the 50 million mark on December 6, 2016 — 1,117 days after its North American launch on November 15, 2013. This means the PS5 is now two days ahead of its predeccor in terms of sales.
“Achieving this PS5 sales milestone is a testament to the unwavering support of the global PlayStation community and their passion for the incredible experiences created by the talented developers from PlayStation Studios and our partners,” SIE president and CEO Jim Ryan said in a statement.
When the PlayStation 5 reached 40 million units sold in July, it was two months behind the PS4. The lag was due to supply shortages that Sony faced between 2020 and 2022. However, the company managed to resolve the issue, with Ryan now saying that this is the first holiday season since launch that Sony has a “full supply of PS5 consoles.”
Sony noted that the PS5 “has experienced strong momentum this year.” The company expects to ship 25 million consoles in 2023. In Q2 (ended September 30) alone, it sold 4.9 million PlayStation 5s, and the results in the holiday season are likely to be even better.
PlayStation 5 is now the 15th best-selling console of all time, right between Xbox One (58 million units) and SNES/Super Famicom (49.1 million). Despite the strong momentum, is still unclear whether it will be able to outsell the PS4, which has sold 117.2 million units globally.
PlayStation 2 is still the all-time leader with over 155 million consoles sold, followed by Nintendo DS (154 million) and Nintendo Switch (132.4 million).
