PS4 nearing 30 million units sold reveals Sony sales data

Sony has released the latest sales data for the PlayStation 4, revealing the console sold 29.3 million units as of the end of the financial year's second quarter on 30 September. The console should pass the 30 million mark with ease by Q3.

The enormous success of the console exceeds the sales of the PlayStation 2 – which sold 24.99 million units in the same time span and which went on to sell well over 155 million units. The figure also dwarfs the sales of its predecessor the PS3 (16.6 million) in the same period and the Xbox 360 (13.4 million). Nintendo's Wii console meanwhile sold 34.55 million.

Sony's Game and Network Services division has seen sales increase by 16.5 % over the same period in 2014, raking in ¥360.7bn (approximately £2bn, $3bn). Operating income was also up by ¥13.1bn to ¥23.9bn.

Sony predicts it will sell 17.5 million PS4s by the end of the 2015/16 financial year next March. More than they had previously predicted. Overall Sony is doing well after years of doom and gloom. This is the company's fourth consecutive report of profit.

Microsoft's Xbox One – the PS4's main competitor – is well behind Sony's figures but believed to still be ahead of its predecessor the Xbox 360. Microsoft don't report on sales because they are not market leaders, but their console is by no means a failure itself.

Xbox One sales will be strong for the remainder of the year thanks to two strong first-party launches in Halo 5: Guardians and Rise of the Tomb Raider. The PS4 by comparison has no major titles but enjoys a large enough market share to reap the rewards of a huge schedule of third party multi-platform releases – with Fallout 4, Star Wars: Battlefront and Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 all expected to sell better on the Sony platform.

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