PS4 Expected to Sell More than 100 Million Units

An industry analyst has suggested that the PS4 will go from strength to strength by selling more than a staggering tenth of a billion units.

DFC Intelligence, a videogame market research and statistics analysis firm, claims that PS4 will sell more than 100 million units worldwide over its lifespan, MCV reports.

If this sales forecast is correct, that will place the PS4 amongst a company of just five consoles which have ever broken the 100 million milestone. These are Sony’s PS1 and PS2—the latter of which is the world’s current best-selling console with over 155 million units sold—along with Nintendo’s DS, Game Boy/Game Boy Colour and the Wii. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 managed to reach 84 million units sold, leaving it as sixth best-selling console.

A lot of Xbox 360 consoles have been exported to developing countries, where they got modified for use with pirated games. This market is significant, and although there is no accurate data on the number of consoles that have been modified in third world countries, different estimations suggest that the number is in millions, if not even in tens of millions. This factor has increased sales of Xbox 360 consoles, which would otherwise not be sold in such quantities in developing countries. Of course it has also decreased the number of sold legal Xbox 360 games.

Since PS3 and especially PS4 consoles have been significantly harder to hack, the number of modified PlayStation consoles and subsequently pirated PS4 games are way less.

The analysts DFC stated that the PS4 is the only console in the current generation to have met its sales targets, as both Xbox One and Wii U sales failed to meet their producers’ expectations. To date, the PS4 has sold approximately 36 million units since late 2013. At the current rate, that would mean that PS4 sales would break the 100 million milestone towards the end of the decade.

PS2 became the fastest-selling games console to sell 100 million units worldwide within five years and nine months since its release in March 2000, meaning it sold at a significantly quicker rate than the PS4 currently has.

DFC expects that sales of all major console manufacturers will fail to meet the prospected amounts, except for Sony. A major aspect the firm believes will constitute a major part of the PS4’s high sales is the upcoming Playstation VR peripheral, which has already generate large interest from developers. However, DFC does not expect VR to have a big impact on gaming as a whole.

Back in 2014, DFC made a similar prediction, but said that Xbox One sales would also reach 100 million. Yet, as Microsoft’s console had only reportedly hit the 18 million mark in January 2016, it is quite unlikely that they will ever catch up to Sony.

All bets are on the PS4 to be the greatest selling console of the generation.

Related Topics: DFC Intelligence, PlayStation 4 Console, Xbox 360

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