2023 was the best year for PlayStation in terms of console sales in Japan in the last 14 years
In 2023, 2.58 million PlayStation 5 copies were sold in Japan, according to Game Data Library analysts. The last time any one Sony console had such high annual sales in the country was in 2010 - during the PlayStation Portable era.
In 2010, the PlayStation Portable sold 2.88 million copies in the Japanese market.
According to Game Data Library estimates, 2023 ranks 12th in the list of the most successful years for Sony in terms of the number of copies of a separate PlayStation console sold in Japan. The record is still 1997, when the Japanese bought 4.45 million copies of the first PlayStation.
Also, the Game Data Library noticed that in 2023, for the first time, the PlayStation 5 was able to surpass its predecessor PlayStation 4 in sales in the Japanese market in the early years of its existence.
For comparison, here are the sales of these consoles at the start:
- release year: PlayStation 5 — 255.18 thousand copies, PlayStation 4 — 924.6 thousand copies (note, the figures are relatively small, since the consoles were released in November);
- Second year: PlayStation 5 — 968.1 thousand copies, PlayStation 4 — 1.2 million copies;
- Third year: PlayStation 5 — 1.15 million copies, PlayStation 4 — 1.78 million copies;
- Fourth year: PlayStation 5 — 2.58 million copies, PlayStation 4 — 1.9 million copies.
As for consoles from other manufacturers, in 2023, Nintendo sold 4 million copies of the Nintendo Switch in Japan, and Microsoft sold 141.7 thousand copies of the Xbox Series.
