Following its release on November 15, Sony’s PlayStation 4 sold over 1 million units in a 24 hour period in North America alone, Sony confirmed.
So far the PS4 has only launched in North America, with the European, Australia, and Brazilian launches scheduled for November 29. The console will then debut around the world in staggered releases beginning on December 13 in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and concluding in Japan on February 22.
Over the coming months, we are going to hear a lot about the sales results of both the PS 4 and the Xbox One, and analysts will comb through each and every financial report to try to pick a winner and loser. Regardless of what the final numbers look like though, the launch has to be seen as successful for Sony.
To put those numbers in perspective, after the PS3 debuted in Japan and then North America in November 2006, it sold 1.68 million units worldwide between launch and the end of the year. (To be fair, the PS3 faced manufacturing delays at launch, but Sony was initially only planning to release 400,000 units at launch to begin with.) It’s difficult to predict what the rest of the PS4’s launch numbers will look like, but the PS3 has a strong following in Europe, outselling the Xbox 360 by nearly 7.5 million units; in Japan that margin is closer to 8 million. North America has been the PS3’s weakest area of the three markets, trailing the 360 in sales 45 million to 27 million.
A strong debut in North America is good news for Sony, and obviously a high priority for the manufacturer. Sony has traditionally released its gaming hardware in Japan first, but the focus on launching first in North America is telling. Expect more sales numbers to follow in the coming weeks, and look for more units to move throughout the holiday seasons as retailers await their next orders.
