PS5 Reportedly Selling Slower Than PS4 in Some Markets

While demand for PlayStation 5 remains quite high, the console is reportedly underperforming its PS4 predecessor in multiple regions, including the UK and Japan. According to industry analyst @BenjiSales, it seems that the reason for this is that Sony is failing to meet demand for more supply. In a follow-up Tweet, the analyst says that information for all regions is not yet available, and it's possible that things could be different in some territories. Still, given some of the ambitious targets Sony had cited prior to the console's launch, it seems that there are issues on the production side hampering the system's momentum.

The Tweet from @BenjiSales can be found embedded below.

Despite a global record debut PlayStation 5 is now actually selling slower than PS4 did launch aligned in multiple markets (for example both Japan and UK)

Sony stated they want the fastest transition in history and demand is enormous. Need to find a way to accelerate production

— Benji-Sales (@BenjiSales) January 11, 2021

Back in October, Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki stated that the company planned to ship 7.6 million PS5 consoles by March 2021. That number is significantly higher than the 6 million PS4 units that the company shipped in a similar timeframe. With the system underperforming the PS4 in some regions, it will be interesting to see whether or not Sony can make up for lost time!

These supply issues could be a major issue for Sony. If they continue well into 2021, it could hurt overall console sales, and convince gamers to look into alternative options. Analysts have been split on whether or not PS5 can manage to top its predecessor. Last June, Piers Harding-Rolls of Ampere Analysis predicted that PS5 would fail to sell as many units as the PS4, and predicted the same for Xbox Series X over Xbox One. However, Japanese analyst Rakuten Securities believes that PS5 lifetime sales could surpass 200 million, which would be nearly 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 cited the fact that PS5 had the biggest launch for any Sony console. However, it remains to be seen whether or not that success will continue.

Do you think PS5 lifetime sales will eclipse PS4? Have you managed to find a console yet? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk about all things gaming!