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Sony confirmed that it had shipped more than 17.3 million units of PS5 by the end of 2021. While that is a great number, it is notably not on par with the PS4 sales in the same period following its launch due to the production-hampering supply chain issues.
The 17.3 million PS5 units were shipped over the first five quarters after the console entered the market. Since PS5 was released, Sony was clear on its goal of selling more PS5 units than they did with PS4. While it was not an impossible feat, the company did not reach its target, especially over the last year.
The company released the number of PS5 units shipped over the last five quarters (via analyst Daniel Ahmad) in comparison to how PS4 performed in terms of sales. In the same period, the PS4 had already sold more than 20.2 million units, showing that Sony was a few million behind its goal.
Figures show that PS5 matched PS4’s sales in its first quarter and even slightly exceeded it with 3.3 million units shipped in the first quarter. However, the PS5 started lagging behind in the next months through the 2021 holidays. The gap between both console generations was the biggest in the last quarter of 2021 as Sony sold 3.9 million units of PS5, whereas 6.4 million PS4 units were sold in the holiday season of 2014.
The lower sales numbers of PS5 were not because the console is less liked than its predecessor. For more than a year now, parts manufacturers have been experiencing prolonged parts shortages that then affect the production of products like gaming consoles.
PS4 is undoubtedly one of the biggest-selling consoles the gaming industry has seen in years. So amid the difficulties of producing enough PS5 units, Sony reportedly decided to continue its PS4 productions, effectively extending the last generation’s cycle. Sony could end up making up to a million units of new PS4 consoles this year.
Meanwhile, Sony does not expect the situation to improve anytime soon, particularly with PS5 shipments. “Sales are expected to be lower than the October forecast due to an expected decrease in PlayStation 5 hardware unit sales, primarily due to shortages in the supply of components, especially semiconductors,” the company said (via VGC).
Photo by Triyansh Gill on Unsplash
