The PS5 has been hard to come by, in part due to demand outpacing supply and ongoing component shortages. But how fast is the system selling? Sony said as part of its latest trade briefing that the PS5 is selling around 1,000 units per minute in the US. Sony is seeing “unprecedented demand” for the PS5, he said.
US retailers sold nearly 1,000 PS5 units per minute for the end of the console’s first fiscal year. For comparison, the PS4 sold around 6 units per minute during the same stage of its life cycle. Sony said those numbers cover three “major events for US retailers.” It’s not immediately clear what that means, but regardless, the PS5 has had a huge start and is, obviously, a high-demand platform.
As anyone who’s tried to buy a PS5 knows, the system is hard to come by, in part due to vendor supply issues and factors like “logistics negotiations” for delivering the systems, said Sony. Sony also said Russia’s war on Ukraine is impacting PS5 supply issues.
The PS4 currently outsells the PS5 over the same period after launch, but Sony expects the PS5’s third year on the market to be when the new system closes the gap, PS5 sales over the year 4 finally surpassing the PS4.
Sony also revealed that the PS5 is doing particularly well in China, where it sold 670,000 units in 72 weeks, compared to a PS4 reaching 250,000 units after its first 72 weeks. Average spending per user in China for the PS5 was $223.34, compared to $69.81 for the PS4 in its first 72 weeks. You can see more stats in the graph below.
Sony has sold over 19 million PS5s to date, and the company expects to sell 18 million more this fiscal year alone. Reading between the lines, it looks like the PS5 will soon be easier to find.
For more on Sony’s latest investor briefing, check out the stories below.