PlayStation 4 Now Sony's Second Bestselling Console Behind PlayStation 2, Overtakes the Original PlayStation

PlayStation 4 is nearing the end of its cycle and talks of Sony's next gaming console – tentatively called the PlayStation 5 – have already begun. But before it sees the sunset, the PlayStation 4 has achieved an important milestone by dethroning the original PlayStation as the second highest-selling Sony console of all time. It is also the second bestselling home console of all time. As per Sony's latest quarterly earnings report, the company sold 2.8 million PlayStation 4 consoles between July and September, bringing the cumulative lifetime sales of the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 4 Pro to 102.8 million.

The Japanese electronics giant touched the much-vaunted sales figure of 100 million units for the PlayStation 4 a few months ago. Sony's consolidated financial report for the second quarter ending in September this year saw the company sell 2.8 million units of the PlayStation 4, which is a sharp decline from the 3.2 million units sold in the previous quarter and 3.9 million units in the same quarter last year. But on a positive side, quarterly sale figures of the PlayStation 4 were still higher than the number of TVs, smartphones, or digital cameras sold by Sony in the same quarter.

With 102.8 million units sold so far, the PlayStation 4 has left behind the first-gen PlayStation, whose lifetime sale stands at 102.5 million. Moreover, the PlayStation 4 has also inched ahead of the Nintendo Wii in lifetime sales figures. Another positive news for Sony came from the PlayStation Plus service, whose number of subscribers has steadily increased on a quarterly basis and now stands at 36.9 million.

However, the PlayStation 4 still has a long way to catch up with the PlayStation 2, which sold more than 155 million units across the globe and remains the bestselling gaming console of all time. The original Nintendo Gameboy and the Nintendo DS (classified as handheld game consoles) are still significantly ahead of the PlayStation 4, and it is unlikely that they will be eclipsed, given the fact that the PlayStation 5 is not too far off from its debut. As for the sale of PlayStation 4 games, their sale stood at 61.3 million units in the second quarter, significantly higher than the 42.9 million games sold in the previous quarter.