Boston, MA 02/19/2014 (wallstreetpr) – Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) has announced that as of February 8, it had sold 5.3 million units of its new game console – PlayStation 4. This figure surpasses the company’s full-year projection for the device. The company had hoped that it would sell 5 million units of PlayStation 4 by end of next month.
Sony released PlayStation 4 to the market in November, first in the U.S. and then Latin America and Western Europe. The device has also debuted in other Asian countries and Japan will be the latest addition with the scheduled launch next week. Video games enthusiasts in Japan can expect to enjoy the PlayStation 4 experience on February 22, which is the exact date when Sony is planning a launch of the console in the market.
Strong demand for PlayStation 4
PlayStation 4 generated started on a positive note and that is why even the latest disclosure that it has surpassed its sales targets doesn’t come as big surprise. Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) announced that 1 million units of the console were sold within the first 24 hours of release. The device was released at the cost $399 in the U.S. and Canada markets and on that day, retailers such as Best Buy Co. (NYSE:BBY) could hardly meet the demand, with some stores selling out sooner than expected.
Looking back
PlayStation 4, a more powerful machine, was preceded by PlayStation 3 which debuted in 2006. Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) said that it sold 3.6 million units of PS3 in a period of four and half months. Just like PS4, PlayStation 3 was also released in the month of November.
World of game consoles
Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) both released their fresh and powerful game console in November last year, a head of the busy holiday shopping season. And they both went ahead to record incredible says in the first two weeks of launch of their respective consoles. Microsoft reported that it had sold 3 million units of its new console Xbox One as of end of December.
Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) has priced its new console starting from $399 per unit while Microsoft is asking more at $499 per unit. Both devices are powered by semi-custom processors from Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NYSE:AMD). Sony and Microsoft are banking on game console market to offset the fallout in the traditional business segments such as personal computers in case of Microsoft.
