Consumer Electronics

Sony's PlayStation 4 Hits 60 Million Sales, Maintaining Sales Pace 3 Years After Debut

John Harrington

Published: June 13, 2017 11:25 am

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 11:05 am

Sales of Sony’s PlayStation 4 continue to purr. The Japanese technology company said on Tuesday that it has sold 60.4 million PlayStation 4 game consoles, maintaining a steady pace since it launched in November 2013.

The latest figure is up from 53.4 million that the company reported in January.

Sony Computer Entertainment, the San Mateo, California-based subsidiary of Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE), sold 4.5 million PlayStation 4 consoles in 2013, to catch the holiday selling period, and sales have steadily risen each year. Sony sold 15.4 million units in 2014, 17.8 million the following year and 19.4 million in 2016. The consoles are now available in 123 countries.

When PlayStation 4 debuted in 2013, it sold 1 million consoles in 24 hours in North America, making it the fastest-selling console ever.

Microsoft Corp.’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Xbox One X, which will be available November 7, is the main rival to PlayStation 4. However, its $499 price tag makes it about $100 more expensive than PlayStation 4. The Xbox has struggled to keep pace with PlayStation in sales, according to industry watchers. Nintendo’s Wii U also is a rival.

Sony said that it had more than 70 million monthly active users globally at the end of March. The company also has ventured into the virtual reality realm by launching the PlayStation VR headset and games.

“The PS4 platform is in its prime,’’ said Andrew House, president and global chief executive officer of Sony Interactive Entertainment, in a press release. “We are committed to further expanding our overall PS4 ecosystem, by broadening the PlayStation VR content portfolio, as well as enriching our network services along with our ground-breaking software lineup.”

PlayStation 4 is the eighth generation of the game console, which debuted in December 1994.