PlayStation 5 sales top 40 million in 32 months: how it compares to Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PS4

PlayStation 5 has reached another milestone, with its sales surpassing 40 million globally. Having overcome supply shortages, Sony maintains a leading position in the console market.

• Sony Interactive Entertainment announced today that PlayStation 5 sales crossed the 40 million mark on July 16, or 32 months since its release in November 2020.
• According to SIE president and CEO Jim Ryan, PS5 supply is now “well-stocked and we are seeing that pent up demand finally being met.”
• The company also noted that there are now more than 2,500 games on the platform, but other data such as PS VR2 sales remains undisclosed.

How fast did PS4 and Nintendo Switch hit 40 million units sold?

• PlayStation 4 sales surpassed 40 million in May 2016, or 30 months after its release in November 2013. So PS5 is still inferior to its predecessor, but keep in mind that Sony was affected by supply shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic between 2020 and 2022.
• Speaking of its rivals, it took Nintendo Switch just under 30 months since its release in March 2017 to cross the 40 million mark. The console had reached 41.67 million units sold by September 30, 2019, as Nintendo disclosed in one of its financial reports at the time.

What about Xbox Series X|S sales?

• Microsoft hasn’t officially shared Xbox sales data for a while now. According to its latest financial report for the three months ended June 30, hardware revenue decreased by 13% year-over-year, “driven by lower volume of consoles sold.”
• However, during last month’s ID@Xbox Developer Xbox Accelerator Progam presentation in Brazil, Microsoft revealed that Xbox Series X|S sales topped 21 million, roughly 31 months since its release in November 2020.
• This means Xbox Series X|S sales are roughly half of the PS5. There was a similar pattern in the previous generation of consoles: PS4 (117.2 million units sold) vs. Xbox One (58 million). So it looks like Microsoft is losing another console race.

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PlayStation 5 is now the 17th best-selling game console of all time, right between Nintendo’s Game & Watch (43.4 million) and Nintendo 64 (32.93 million). It is hard to predict how many units Sony will be able to sell by the end of PS5’s lifecycle, but it has every chance to hit the 100 million mark.

PlayStation 2 is still the best-selling console with over 155 million units sold, followed by Nintendo DS (154 million), Nintendo Switch (125.62 million), Game Boy/Color (118.69 million), and PlayStation 4 (117.2 million).