Sony Sold Almost 40 million PS5s Since Launch

Sony’s PlayStation 5 console was dogged by supply issues as demand soared when it hit the shelves in late 2020. The challenges took some time to sort out, but it has seemingly paid off, as almost 40 million consoles have been sold so far.

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Greater Than Expected

In a yearly earnings statement, Sony revealed that its third quarter of last year was the strongest, as it sold just over 7 million PS5 consoles. This could largely be due to a sporadic increase in supply, in-store promotions and game exclusives. The fourth quarter, which includes Black Friday and Christmas, saw sales peak at only 6 million units, but it was an excellent 2022 for Sony, as it sold a total of 19.1 million devices.

It’s difficult to compare sales of Sony’s console to that of bitter rival Microsoft and its Xbox One. The company hasn’t released latest device sales figures in seven years, but market analysts speculate that it doesn’t make for good reading. The Xbox One Series X|S has been out for just over two years, with analysts pegging the unofficial sales numbers at just over 22 million.

Sales of PS5 consoles also outstripped the sales of Sony televisions, indicating that gaming is a huge revenue driver. Compared to 19.1 million consoles, Sony only sold 6.6 million televisions in 2022. And with more consoles come more users.

“Moreover, the number of monthly active users for PlayStation as a whole increased by 2.3 million accounts compared to the same month of the previous fiscal year in March,” explained Sony in the statement.

The update also sheds more light on which games sold the most. God of War Ragnarok sold 11 million copies on PS5 and 5 million copies on PS4, while Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut sold 6.5 million copies on PS5.

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