Today at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Sony announced they had sold a record 4.2 Million PS4 consoles. The data was from launch, November 15, 2013 to December 31, 2013. Sony choose a staggered launch and the PS4 was available in 53 countries by the end of the year. Reports from analysts predicted Sony would sell 5 million units by Spring 2014 and they seem on pace to do this.
“The momentum of the PS4 system keeps getting stronger and we couldn’t be more thrilled gamers worldwide are enjoying the incredibly immersive gaming experiences along with deep social capabilities and entertainment provided by our network,” said Andrew House, President and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. “After a remarkable launch, we look forward to bringing even more exciting content and continuing to explore the power of the PS4 system by adding new features and services, including PlayStation Now, in 2014.”
Sony announced a game streaming service that will be available in limited beta later this month. Sony also announced its own cloud-based streaming TV service that will support both video on demand and live TV broadcasts.
Yesterday we covered Microsoft’s announcement that the company had sold 3 Million Xbox One consoles. The Xbox One is only available in 13 “launch countries” compared to Sony’s 53 countries. Microsoft is also said to be working on a game streaming service. Microsoft demoed Halo on a Lumia at its company meeting last year. A number of former OnLive employees now work on the Xbox team. The other major game streaming company, Gaikai, was acquired by PlayStation for over $300 million.
We are expecting more information on the Xbox One in early April at the Build conference. Terry Myerson and Marc Whitten control the software side of the Xbox One, while Julie Larson-Green controls the hardware side. A number of senior Microsoft employees are in attendance at CES including Julie Larson-Green, Panos Panay, Terry Myerson and many others. Former Windows head Steven Sinofsky is also at CES and many are eagerly awaiting his annual report and analysis of trends.