Sony has shipped 67.5 million PlayStation 4 units worldwide since the console was launched in November 2013.
PlayStation 4 sales are still going strong after four years in the market. However, there are several challenges that might make it harder for the console to hold on to its crown.
PlayStation 4 Sales Still Going Strong
In Sony's earnings report for the quarter ended Sept. 30, the company noted that it shipped 4.2 million PlayStation 4 units during the period compared to 3.9 million units in the same quarter last year and 3.3 million in the quarter ended June 30.
The improved PlayStation 4 sales figures show that the four-year-old console is still going strong. Sony has even increased its expected PlayStation 4 sales for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2018 to 19 million units, up 1 million units compared to the previous forecast of 18 million units.
Sony said that it had sold 67.5 million units of the PlayStation 4 worldwide at the end of its fiscal second quarter. With 7.5 million units shipped so far in its current fiscal year and an expected 19 million units sold by the end of it, Sony is targeting 79 million units of the PlayStation 4 sold by March 31, 2018.
The figures reveal that the PlayStation 4 has sold twice as quickly as the PlayStation 3, as the previous-generation console had sold about 34 million units by its fourth year. The PlayStation 4, however, has not been able to match the performance of the PlayStation 2, which had sold over 81 million units by 2004 after its launch in 2000.
Challenges For The PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 is still on top of the video game industry, but Sony's console will face several challenges moving forward.
First and foremost is the resurgent Nintendo and the wildly popular Nintendo Switch, which has outsold the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in the United States in five out of the seven months since it was launched in March. It remains to be seen how the hybrid console will fare in the holiday season against the PlayStation 4, though, as supply issues might affect the Nintendo Switch's availability.
Microsoft's Xbox One, which has long been in second place behind the PlayStation 4, may also see renewed interest with the upcoming Xbox One X. The console will also welcome the Steam record-breaking PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds as an exclusive.
Cross-platform play has also been a sensitive topic, with Sony so far refusing to budge in its rejection of enabling the feature. There is no incentive for the PlayStation 4 to agree to cross-platform play with the Xbox One as it sits on top of the industry, but its hardline stance might drive away players to other platforms that would enable it.
