Sony's PlayStation 5 hits 40 million sales milestone

Sony quickly achieved yet another PlayStation 5 milestone. The company reports that since the PS5's release in November 2020, it has sold over 40 million systems. Since the year's beginning, about 8 million of those units had been sold. Unsurprisingly, those don't surpass Sony's holiday sales from a year ago, when the company sold 7.1 million PS5s in a single quarter. However, the company says inventory is finally "well-stocked" and keeping up with demand — you might not have to wait for stores to get fresh supplies.

Within its first eight months, 10 million PS5 units were sold. It did, however, have the advantage of being on sale on a holiday when many people were cooped up at home during the early epidemic; as a result, it became Sony's fastest-selling console to date. Even during the period following the holidays, when demand tends to decline, the IT giant is now getting closer to that pace.

As of early 2022, the business has shipped over 117 million PS4s, while as of 2013, it had shipped around 157 million PS2s. By the end of 2022, Nintendo had sold around 123 million Switches. Given the additional years of sales involved, those leads are not surprising, but they indicate Sony has some way to go before surpassing both its all-time high numbers and the current-gen rivals.

It's unclear how that momentum will change. It's hardly a given that a new or improved console will appear soon. The game selection is expanding at the same time. More PlayStation titles, including forthcoming blockbusters like Spider-Man 2, are PS5-only. Additionally, Sony is preparing for late 2023 with a few prospective system-selling add-ons, such as the Project Q streaming device and PlayStation VR2. Sony may not be able to maintain its outstanding sales, but the elements are in place for a successful year.