There’s no such thing as a console war. At least, until Sony and Microsoft start selling gaming hardware with free rocket launchers, that is. But there’s a bit of a race, and Sony seems to be winning. The Japanese company has just reached a new milestone for the PlayStation 4. That is, selling 100 million consoles over its lifetime. In doing so, Sony’s knocked aside both Nintendo’s Wii and its own PlayStation 2 for the time taken to achieve this target.
That’s the word according to Daniel Ahmad, an analyst at Niko Partners. The console has nudged past the PlayStation 2’s race to 100 million, beating the PS2’s five year, nine-month sprint by two months. That’s five years and seven months, for the mathematically challenged. The PS4 also pipped the Nintendo Wii to the finish line.
Perched on top
This makes PlayStation 4 the fastest home console to reach 100 million unit sell in.
Faster than both the PS2 and Wii which were just behind.
It took PS2 a total of five years and 9 months. PS4 was just 5 years and 7 months. pic.twitter.com/g4Bk8sckYf
— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) July 30, 2019
We’re unlikely to see many games consoles outstrip Sony’s totals here. There are only six games systems to have crossed the 100 million units sold mark and Microsoft’s efforts are not among them. Sony’s PlayStation is there (102.5 million), as is the Nintendo Wii (101.6 million). The mighty PlayStation 2 is the all-time champ with at least 155 million consoles sold. That last is all the more impressive when you realise that Sony stopped reporting data on PS2 sales back in 2013.
And we’re unlikely to see many consoles challenge the current sales lineup. Absent an icon like the PS2 or a cultural phenomenon like the Nintendo Wii, 100 to 150 million is perhaps the limit for any gaming system. Until that is, we’re tracking sales data on the populations of two planets. So Sony might want to get involved in colonising Mars if it is hoping to shatter its own high score.
For now, though, ongoing PS4 sales are expected to slow down. The pending launch of the PlayStation 5 should make sure of that. It should release in 2020, just in time to ensure that Sony’s PlayStation 2 is the most purchased games console of all time. OF ALL TIME!!!.
Source: Daniel Ahmad via The Verge