Gamers have been anxious to get their hands on the PS4 since it was announced earlier in the year. But did that translate into sales? You bet it did.
Sony has announced that the PS4 sold over 1 million units during its first 24 hours. Made more impressive, this number only takes into account sales in North America due to its delayed release in other parts of the world (Japan gets it in February and Europe gets it later in the month).
It was previously projected that 3 million units would be sold by the end of 2013. This record puts it on pace to go well beyond that—5~ million maybe?—assuming production doesn’t continue to halt sales. Issues with hardware failures have already caused disruption in the manufacturing and delivery process which could drastically limit its sales potential until Sony gets it all sorted out.
The PS4 is currently sold out across the country, with some families and gamers resorting to sites like eBay and Craigslist to purchase one for a much higher price. Consoles are selling for an inflated price of around $550-600 on both sites, a number that’s well below what was seen with the PS2, for example. Supply is much higher, though.
As great as this success is, not only for the PlayStation brand but the gaming industry, what will really matter is how the PS4 can sell once the initial wave of interest dies down. The console’s lack of blockbuster software at launch is a huge detriment that can’t be overstated. But with a price of $399 it’s likely it will continue to perform well through the early half of 2014. What Sony’s first-party can muster early in its lifecycle will determine what happens from there.
