Global PS4 sales hit "record-setting" 2.1 million, says Sony
European and South American launches push console past milestone
Sony has announced the current global sales total for the PS4, with over 2.1 million units now in customers' hands across North and South America and Europe, something which SCE CEO Andrew House has called "an impressive and record-setting accomplishment."
Having hit the shelves in a staggered launch which saw the console in US stores a week before the Xbox One, but a week after it in in Europe, the PlayStation 4 has yet to launch at all in Sony's home territory, where dominance is all but guaranteed.
House named the global figure, whilst thanking PlayStation fans, in a post on the corporation's blog.
"PS4′s North American debut on 15th November was PlayStation's largest ever, with more than one million gamers picking up a PS4 in just 24 hours. Now, with PS4′s global launch expanding to a total of 32 countries worldwide, including Europe and Latin America, I'm proud to announce that more than 2.1 million PS4s have been sold.
"It's an impressive and record-setting accomplishment for our company and for our industry and we couldn't have done it without you," continued House. "I want to personally thank PlayStation fans, both old and new, for your vote of confidence. The best part: the PS4 journey has just begun. In addition to an incredible line-up of PS4 games from the best developers in the world, we will continue to introduce valuable new features and services to PS4 in the months and years ahead.
"While PS4′s capabilities will continue to evolve, our commitment to gamers and breakthrough entertainment remains steadfast. We believe that videogames represent the pinnacle of artistry and entertainment, and we will work tirelessly to make sure that PlayStation remains the best place to play."
Despite Sony's machine getting the early upper hand in many territories, including the UK, some major retailers in the US have been reporting that the Xbox One has been the console of choice during the maelstrom of the Black Friday sales period following Thanksgiving. Microsoft has yet to release an official global sales figure for the machine.
And I'm still thinking which one to buy first... :/ decisions...
Edited 1 times. Last edit by Alfonso Sexto on 3rd December 2013 9:44am
@Alfonso Sexto
At the moment, i think you should get a PS4 and Xbox later when the price drops
But if they say it was a record....
Those 2 Million consoles bough exclusively for playing. Apple sells phones which are not a dedicated gaming platform.
Are we going to continue with those comparisons again? because until there is proof that every Iphone/android owner buys a phone strictly to play games I believe it's out of place. like comparing vodeogames sold with movie tickets worldwide.
@ Klaus Apple sells considerably fewer than 9 million iPhones a day. In fact, they sell fewer than 1 million iPhones a day on a non-launch month (they sold 33 million in September with the 5S and 5C models AND China added in for the first time).
It was not my intention to say an iphone was a better, or faster spreading gaming device.
I was trying to point out that in the sector of companies pushing high priced electronics into the market, 2.1 million units is not exactly the apex of achievement that current console sales are made out to be. Sure, gaming is the core aspect for the new consoles, but both manufacturers aim to grow an audience beyond pure gaming. In the same way iphones try to grow an audience beyond people who are trying to make a call. By comparing the launch number of those consoles with the launch number of said smartphone style devices, we can see how much each type of electronic is bound to rot in its niche or not. Not being able to satisfy demand and being able to only deliver consoles to the corest of core gaming pre-order audiences is not a good thing. Especially when this is the only moment of mainstream media attention this consoles are likely to ever get.
There is a lot more to be said about the style in which iterative hardware interacts with the existing software platform and is leveraged to grow, shift and/or change it. While that might not turn a couch gamer into a fan of mobile games, it certainly grew phones beyond the market of people wanting to make a call.
Apple makes money by selling iPhones, while for Sony, PS4 is a trojan horse that will bring them money over time. From the two million PS4 sold, I think that Sony is going to profit much more from each sold unit over time, than Apple is going to profit from each sold phone from those initial nine millions. Different business models...
Edited 1 times. Last edit by Simon Morris on 3rd December 2013 2:10pm
Apple did the same not too long ago. People were at a point where being able to call anybody anytime from everywhere just became an accepted norm in a way that assuming everybody to be a gamer is not (yet?). From there, Apple started mashing everything together. Mobile phones, mobile music players, mobile email, mobile games, mobile everything. Apple had the perfect service and each new hardware profited from hat service. Content providers migrated to iOS not Apple Device #4.
This is one difference to consoles. The service level is nowhere as seamless as iOS. Hence content providers create software for Sony Device #4, not Sony Operating System. On console we have something iPhone users worry less about, which is the actual generation of hardware they are on. Compatibility on iOS can be nasty, but nobody seems to mind that much, which is raising questions why fully compatible platforms that remain unchanged for 10 years are such a holy cow for console manufacturers. Also look at Sony and Microsoft having trouble creating the "living-room mashup" device in the same way Apple made the mobile mashup device.
However I dont get why people compare the iPhone to a games console. The fact that it can play games doesnt make it a games console. And the fact that it plays games doesnt mean people will buy it to play games. However, people will by a games console to play games. So if your a developer, its prudent to make games for a device you know people are going to play it on. And finally, consoles offer more ways to play. Wether you like touch screen, motion gaming, social, network features, consoles are made to make use of all those technologies.
Dont seem why all this "wanting" consoles to fail.
Edited 1 times. Last edit by Rick Lopez on 3rd December 2013 3:48pm
Apple mostly makes money on the iPhones sold. That is why we see a new iPhone every other month. Sony sells you a PS4, probably with a loss and then makes money on license fees for games you buy, peripherals, PS Plus, etc. This means that the lifetime value of one PS4 purchase is significantly higher than a lifetime value of an iPhone sale, since after that sale the average money spend per person is marginal. Thus 2 million PS4 sales could be even bigger success than 9 million iPhones. And since nobody exactly knows the precise numbers, it makes no sense to compare those two launches.
And yes, you are right that iOS has a better interface and that it is probably a better "mashup" device, but I fail to see how does that relate to a success of the PS4 launch, which this article and discussion is about...
I got it the first time, no worry :) Also I think I didn't explain myself correctly. I still see consoles and phones as different markets to the point that numbers must be compared in their own context (You know, what I'm always trying to tell Bruce).
1M consoles in its context is a quite good result and a record in how fast a console has sold. that' all I meant :)
Yes. beautiful when used in a topic where it belongs and free of cheap sarcasm.
I got a PS4 on launch day, and am 56 hours into Battlefield 4.