Sony’s PlayStation 4 global sales hit 2.1 million units

Within two weeks of its launch, Sony's PlayStation 4 has hit sales of 2.1 million units worldwide.

Sony said these were actual sales to consumers and not mere shipments into the retail channel.

The PlayStation 4 hit North America on 15 November and quickly became a sales hit, with the company announcing at that time that it sold 1 million PlayStation 4 units in just 24 hours to customers in the US and Canada. On 29 November, the company launched the console elsewhere around the world, which was now available in 32 countries.

Although sales figures for console units meant little in gaming enjoyment, they had long been looked upon as a barometer of the success (or failure) of a console.

That was the precise reason why both Sony and Microsoft had announced initial sales figures with their recent console launches.

According to Microsoft's announcement last month, it had sold 1 million units of Xbox One in 24 hours, as well. However, the Xbox One launched in 13 markets, as against only two for Sony's PlayStation 4.

Meanwhile, Microsoft Corp said it was selling every Xbox One player it could make, after it introduced the new game console on 22 November.

Sales are setting records, the Redmond, Washington-based software maker said yesterday in a statement, without being more specific. Users have already spent more than 50 million hours on games and entertainment, Microsoft said.

''Demand is far exceeding supply in the 13 countries we've launched and we are sold out at retailers around the world,'' Yusuf Mehdi, vice president of strategy and marketing for Xbox, said in the statement.

Bloomberg quoted Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles as saying, Microsoft might not want to issue a lower number than the 2.1 million units that Sony Corp reported selling as of 1 December for the PlayStation 4.

The software maker limited its Xbox introduction to 13 countries, from 21 initially planned, to make sure larger markets had sufficient supplies, and reported first-day sales of more than 1 million.

According to Sony which introduced the PlayStation 4 starting 15 November, its tally included about 700,000 units purchased by consumers in Europe and Australasian markets after the player went on sale in those regions on 29 November.

According to Pachter each company probably had factory capacity to make 1 million consoles a month. He estimated that around 55 per cent of the 4.5 million PlayStation 4s produced by the end of January would go to North American retailers.