UK sales of the PlayStation 5 have reportedly eclipsed lifetime sales of systems like the PS Vita, Wii U, and Sega Dreamcast. Sony's latest console got off to an incredible start in the United Kingdom, breaking records to become the fastest-selling console in UK history - an honor previously held by the PlayStation 4.
Video Games Chronicle revealed as much in a report a couple of weeks after the new consoles hit store shelves. In November 2013, PS4 moved approximately 250,000 units in its first 48 hours on the UK market. Specific sales numbers aren't known, but, according to VGC, the same 48-hour window last November saw PS5's sales numbers surpass 250,000 units. Meanwhile, Xbox Series X|S managed to sell through 155,000 consoles on its first day, becoming the UK's fifth fastest-selling console after the PS3, PSP, PS4, and PS5. And despite the ongoing stock shortage, the newest PlayStation console is performing exceptionally well in the aforementioned region.
GamesIndustry.biz journalist Christopher Dring reports that PlayStation 5 in the UK has already outsold Dreamcast, PS Vita, and Wii U. Unfortunately, concrete data for UK sales of the three legacy systems isn't easy to come by; however, there's plenty to discern from sales milestones of the past. In early 2018, for instance, Nintendo Switch had moved over 700,000 units in the United Kingdom, eclipsing the lifetime sales of the Wii U by quite a large margin. Reason suggests PS5's current sales are roughly in that ballpark. UK-based sales numbers for PS Vita and Dreamcast are much harder to pin down, though it's worth noting that Sony's last handheld only sold 100,000 units in its first 10 weeks on UK store shelves - a figure eclipsed three times over by PSP's sales in the same period.
Of course, PlayStation 5 isn't only selling like hot cakes in the UK. It also counts as the US market's fastest-selling console in history, as reported by the NPD last month. If Sony can maintain such momentum, the new system's trajectory could match that of the PS4 long-term. This won't prove an easy feat to accomplish, though, given global stock shortages on the chipsets that power Sony's and Microsoft's high-end consoles.
According to leading electronics manufacturer Foxconn, the chip shortage could last through the second quarter of next year. The supply constraints are affecting far more than gaming hardware; manufacturing for smartphones, automobiles, and other sectors of the tech industry have been similarly hit hard over the last 12 months.
Source: Christopher Dring