MAY 27, 2016 • As of May 22 the PlayStation 4 sales have reached 40 million units worldwide since November 2013. That total is up from the 35.9 million tally announced last January by Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (SIE), formerly known as Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. For the 2014 fiscal year Sony said 18.8 million PS4s were sold through globally, 17.7 million in fiscal year 2015, and the company projects 20 million will be sold by the end of fiscal year 2016 next March. Sony also disclosed that over 271 million PS4 software titles have been sold to date. In addition, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End sold more than 2.7 million units in the week after its May 10 release. The title is also the fastest selling PlayStation 4 game in North America.
Impact: Three years in circulation and the PlayStation 4 continues to build momentum this console cycle. Last year DFC Intelligence forecasts for the PlayStation 4 were higher than Sony’s initial forecasts. Sony ended up raising its forecast and the DFC forecasts were right on the money. This year, Sony’s forecast of 20 million PlayStation 4 units for fiscal 2016 is slightly more aggressive than the recent DFC forecasts. Clearly there are stronger than ever expectations for the PS4. Not only is Sony readying the PSVR for launch late this year, but there is also reporting that a hardware revision is upcoming for the console that will boost processing and graphics capabilities. A beefier PS4 makes a lot of sense given how VR gobbles up system resources, but if true, also will give consumers one more reason to step up and purchase the system. The truth is Sony has remained remarkably focused this cycle in executing its PlayStation strategy. Using baseball as an analogy, if the PS3 swung for the fences and fouled out early on, the PS4 has been a steady series of base hits adding runs to the scoreboard. As the system moves into its fourth year this fall, Sony is still giving consumers new reasons to buy a PlayStation 4, which cannot be said for the Xbox One.
