Sony's PlayStation 4 console has shipped 100 million units, according to the company, meaning the PS4 is outpacing other consoles when it comes to historic shipment numbers. Sony previously announced record earnings for 2018's fiscal year.
The PS4 has consistently hit impressive sales milestones since its 2014 launch. By 2016, the PS4 had sold more than 40 million units, and Sony doubled that number by 2016 to surpass the PlayStation 3 in sales. Estimated Xbox One sales hit 41 million in early 2019, meaning the Microsoft system had sold less than half the number of units the PS4 had. The PS4 even managed to beat out the smash-hit Nintendo Switch to become 2018's best-selling console, eking out a 0.3 million sales advantage over Nintendo's hybrid console. PlayStation's comparatively weaker profits in the last quarter of 2018 signaled to some the end of the Sony console, but today's sales numbers prove it still has some life left.
Sony announced the 100 million shipment milestone in a financial report presentation. The company sold 3.2 million units during the current quarter, and said the PS4 is on track to sell 15 million by the end of the fiscal year. Games industry analyst Daniel Ahmad posted a chart on Twitter that visualizes lifetime shipment numbers for the PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PS2, PS4, Switch and PS1. According to Ahmad, the PS4 reached 100 million units faster than both the PS2 and the Wii, each of which sold extremely well in their own right. According to Ahmad's chart, at the same time-since-launch as the PS4's 100 million milestone (about 68 months from launch), the PS1, PS3 and Xbox 360 had all only shipped between about 70 million and 50 million units, while the PS2 and Wii had shipped just under 100 million.
According to Wikipedia's list of best-selling game consoles, which is compiled from sales data released by game console manufacturers, Sony's PS2 had sold 155 million units when Sony last reported the console's sales in March 2012. This just barely beats out the Nintendo DS's 154.02 million-unit sales, last reported in April 2017. Between those two console's above-150 million lifetime sales and the PS4's current 100 million, there are only three other consoles: the Game Boy (and Game Boy Color), at 118.69 million; the original PlayStation, at 102.49 million; and the Nintendo Wii, at 101.63 million. Additionally, as Ahmad noted, the Nintendo Switch's current sales are in-line with the PS4's trajectory, so it's possible the Switch could eventually surpass the PS4. The Switch is currently at 36.87 million units sold, according to Nintendo, which already puts it just shy of the Xbox One's estimated 41 million units sold.
Given its current record sales, it seems the PS4 is on track to achieve lifetime sales numbers more akin to the 150-plus million of the PS2 and 3DS than those of the Game Boy, PS1 and Wii, but only time will tell. It still remains to be seen how the upcoming launch of the PlayStation 5 will impact PlayStation 4 sales, but they will likely continue to increase (if only at a slower pace).
Source: Sony