Sony has sold boatloads of PS5 consoles over the few years it’s been out, and has now reportedly reached a total of 61.7 million units shipped as of June 2024. That’s more than half of the amount of Xbox consoles that Microsoft has sold this generation, which includes its Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S models.
That data is according to a new video from The Wall Street Journal which has sourced its information from Aldora Intelligence. The report as a whole isn’t about console sales alone, but a breakdown of how Microsoft is attempting to “redefine gaming.” This initiative from one of the biggest tech companies in the world relies heavily on the Xbox Game Pass service. A subscription plan where gamers can pay a monthly fee to access games from Microsoft’s ever-growing library.
Amidst the talk of Microsoft’s plans, however, is a detailed description of the hardware sales numbers. And it paints a picture of Sony’s success in this area of the games industry.
The number of PS5 consoles sold pales in comparison to the PS2
Another interesting piece of information shows a comparison between the two companies for each console generation, starting with the PS2 in 2000, a year before Microsoft launched its first Xbox.
Having launched the PS2 a year earlier, Sony was far ahead of Microsoft’s console sales numbers, reaching a total of 155 million units over the console’s lifespan compared to the Xbox’s 24.7 million units. But Microsoft closed this gap with the Xbox 360, reaching 84.9 million units, whereas the PS3 only sold 87.4 million. Largely thought to be due to the PS3’s astronomical $600 price tag.
Sony gained yet another lead with the launch of the PS4, which sold 117 million units. The Xbox One sold just 57.9 million. Now with the PS5 and Xbox Series consoles, Microsoft has fallen even further. It doesn’t appear to phase Microsoft, though, with the company seemingly having a clear path forward and a plan that continues to attempt to make games available to people on a wide number of devices and screens.
Both Sony and Microsoft are seeing their fair share of financial struggles
Sony has continued to sell lots of PS5 consoles but that doesn’t mean it’s not facing issues financially. As Wccftech points out, the original PS5 was sold at a loss. Sony confirmed this when it laid out a roadmap for when it expected the PS5 to be profitable. Back in 2021, it finally reached a point where the console was making more money from each console sold than it cost to build it. However, Sony has also increased the price of the PS5 in at least a few regions.
It’s also recently announced the PS5 Pro, which launches in November for a whopping $700.
