Although the demand for PlayStation 5 is quite high, the console apparently outperforms its PS4 predecessor in several regions, including the UK and Japan. According to @BenjiSales, industry analyst, it seems that the reason for this is that Sony is not meeting the demand for more supply. In a follow-up tweet, the analyst says that information for all regions is not yet available, and that it may be different in some areas. In light of some of the ambitious targets that Sony set before launching the console, it appears that there are issues on the production side that are hampering the momentum of the system.
The Tweet from @BenjiSales can be found below.
Despite a worldwide record debut, PlayStation 5 now sells more slowly than PS4 has been launched in several markets (e.g. Japan and the UK).
Sony said they want the fastest transition in history and that the demand is huge. Must find a way to accelerate production
– Benji Sales (@BenjiSales) 11 January 2021
In October, Hiroki Totoki, Sony’s CFO, said the company planned to ship 7.6 million PS5 consoles by March 2021. The number is significantly higher than the 6 million PS4 units that the company shipped within a similar time frame. As the PS4 system is underperforming in some regions, it will be interesting to see if Sony can make up for lost time!
These issues could be a major issue for Sony. If it continues until 2021, it could hurt the console’s total sales and convince players to explore alternative options. Analysts are divided on whether the PS5 can catch up with its predecessor. Last June, Piers Harding-Rolls of Ampere Analysis predicted that PS5 would not sell as many units as the PS4, and predicted the same for Xbox Series X over Xbox One. However, Japanese analyst Rakuten Securities estimates that PS5’s life sales could exceed 200 million, which will be almost double that of PS4.
Despite this shaky start, it seems that Sony remains positive about the future. During today’s CES presentation, the company once again mentioned the fact that PS5 had the biggest launch for any Sony console. However, it remains to be seen whether the success will continue or not.
Do you think PS5’s life sales will darken PS4? Have you ever managed to find a console? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to play over everything that plays!