The Next-Gen Consoles Outperformed Their Predecessors' Launch Despite Stock Issues

General news News Nintendo Nintendo News PlayStation PlayStation News Xbox Xbox News 01/09/2021

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While there aren’t enough PlayStation 5s and Xbox Series in the stores, it seems that – internationally – they still outperformed the PlayStation 4‘s and the Xbox One‘s launch in the same period if we compare the two console generations.

„More PlayStation 5s and Xbox Series consoles were sold compared to PlayStation 4s and Xbox Ones over the same period when they launched. It’s pretty impressive. Also, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 combined have not sold a couple of hundred million,” Gamesindustry‘s Christopher Dring wrote. The growth can be lead back to two things: one, the gaming industry continues to grow, meaning the demand is higher than in 2013, and two, the coronavirus global pandemic is why the already strong industry continues to grow.

Gematsu shared the Japanese console sales between December 21 and January 3 via the country’s Famitsu magazine (the brackets include the lifetime sales):

Switch – 467,051 (14,512,967)
Switch Lite – 123,243 (3,139,528)
PlayStation 4 – 30,482 (7,733,236)
PlayStation 5 – 18,129 (214,228)
PlayStation 5 Digital Edition – 5,691 (51,554)
New 2DS LL (including 2DS) – 1,372 (1,151,470)
Xbox Series X – 275 (24,974)
PlayStation 4 Pro – 112 (1,575,530)
Xbox Series S – 64 (6,584)

Remember, these numbers are ONLY for Japan! It still shows the PlayStation 4 outpaced the PlayStation 5 (even if we add the PlayStation 5 Standard Edition and the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition sales under one umbrella), and that the PlayStation 4 Pro wasn’t that much of a popular console in Japan (and it won’t be, as Sony has officially SHUT DOWN its production in Japan!), as the base/PlayStation 4 Slim model outsold it 5:1 over their respective lifetimes. It also confirms that Japan also suffers from a lack of stock. (The PlayStation 5 sold almost a total of 266K units, while the new Xbox units barely scrape near 32K, so there’s a good 8:1 ratio in Sony’s favour.)

Nintendo’s success is also seen in the game sales – NINE out of the top ten is taken by the Switch, with only Minecraft in 8th place being its exception. However, it might showcase that PlayStation is on a downhill slope in Japan.

Source: PSU, PSL

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Angyal Anikó

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