PS5 had its best quarter yet, reaching 32 million lifetime sales as supply issues finally ease

PlayStation 5 early days were plagued by chip shortages and supply issues caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, meaning that Sony was never quite able to meet the market demand for the console. Now, it looks like the PS5 has finally turned a corner as Sony releases their sales report for the third quarter of 2022.

According to Sony’s recent quarterly report, PlayStation 5 had its best quarter ever at the end of 2022. A total of 7.1 million PS5 units were sold in the last three months of the year, up around 83% over the same period the year before. This sales milestone was helped by the fact that it was the first holiday season where Sony hadn’t struggled to ship units around the world. The massively popular God of War Ragnarok was also released during this period. The game sold 11 million copies as of February 1, of which 5.1 million were sold during its debut week.

32.1 million PlayStation 5 have been sold worldwide since the console launched in November 2022. Sony has revised PlayStation 5 sales projections for the January-March 2023 quarter, lifting them to 19 million units from 18 million. This financial year, which runs from April 2022 to March 2023, 12.8 million PlayStation 5 units have been sold.

Along with healthy software sales for the quarter, there is still work to be done for Sony. Though the last quarter was the best for console sales this generation, the PlayStation 5 is still lagging behind its predecessor. By this point in its lifecycle, the PlayStation 4 had sold 38 million units, though it didn’t have to contend with the aforementioned supply issues that gave the PlayStation 5 a stuttering launch. It will likely take at least two equally strong quarters to close the gap, which has to be the company’s overall goal.

Other obstacles ahead of the PlayStation include the looming acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Sony’s biggest rival, Microsoft. That deal remains up in the air, casting a shadow over every decision that Sony makes in its gaming division. However, these numbers confirm that, as Jim Ryan said during Sony’s CES press conference, those who want a PlayStation 5 should finally be able to find one.