Sony’s PlayStation 5 has surpassed 50 million units sold worldwide.
The console debuted in November 2020, meaning it hit this milestone in about three years. Notably, this is a marked increase from the 40 million mark that Sony confirmed in July. The PS5 no doubt benefited this year from a much stronger supply chain over years past. Some high-profile exclusives also dropped on PS5 this year, including Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and Final Fantasy XVI.
Notably, The Financial Times reports that, per Ampere Analysis data, the PS5 actually outsold Microsoft’s Xbox Series X and S consoles by nearly three to one in 2023. According to the firm, PS5 sales grew by around 65 percent this year to 22.5 million units, while the pair of Xbox systems dropped 15 percent to 7.6 million. (Microsoft hasn’t reported official console sales figures for years, so we can only go off third-party data like this.)
Meanwhile, Ampere Analysis notes that the Nintendo Switch saw demand fall by 18 percent to 16.4 million units. Of course, the Switch is a nearly 7-year-old console with a successor expected to drop next year, so demand would, understandably, be dwindling. Even still, that’s a strong performance for such old hardware, which was likely driven by a slew of acclaimed exclusives this year, including The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Super Mario RPG and Pikmin 4.
Overall, Ampere Analysis says the console market (hardware, software and services) will reach $60.9 billion USD (about $81 billion CAD) this year, a 7.2 percent rebound after a 7.3 percent decline last year. This means this market is nearly as big as it was in 2021 amid a pandemic boom in popularity. It probably didn’t hurt that so many well-received games were released this year.
Source: The Financial Times
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