PS5 hits 92.2 million sales with 8 million PS5s sold over holidays, yet still lags behind PS4

The PlayStation 5 has surpassed 92 million sales as of Holiday 2025, but the console is still trailing behind the PS4's strong pace.

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Sony's new Q3'25 financials give an update on how well the business is doing, and based on the data, Sony delivered strong results. When it comes to hardware, Sony shipped 8 million PlayStation 5 consoles in Holiday 2025, down from the 9.5 million PS5s that it shipped in Holiday 2024.

On a launch-aligned basis, the PS5 is still playing catch-up to its predecessor. Data shows that in the first 21 quarters on the market, the PS4 shipped 94.4 million units compared to the PS5's 92.2 million in the same period. The PS4 has a 2.2 million lead over the PS5, which is substantial enough to account for an entire Q4 of shipments.

• Read more: Xbox Series shipment estimates are as high as 35.9 million
• Read more: PS5 sales hit 80.3 million: PS5 still hasn't caught up to PS4 even with PS5 Pro's help

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Keep in mind that the market has changed since then, as gamers can now purchase digital-only systems that offer far better long-term profitability for Sony as compared to the PS4, which can play discs, even used secondhand titles that Sony doesn't get a sale from.

The shipments from Holiday 2025 push PlayStation 5's total sales to 92.2 million worldwide, meaning that the PS5 is only 25 million units away from breaking the PS4's mighty 117.2 million shipments.

Looking at the trends in the available data, the PS5 could beat the PS4's lifetime sales in little over a year's time--by mid-2027 calendar year, or around Sony's Q1 FY2027 period.

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Sony has sold nearly 20 million PS5 consoles per year between FY22 and FY24, however those sales have slowed down throughout the current period of FY25, with the company reaching 14.4 million PS5 shipments in the first 9 months. Data shows that Sony could sell up to 3 million PS5s in Q4'25, pushing the total to around 17.4 for the year. This would raise the cumulative PS5 shipments to 95.2 million, and by this time, the PS5 would only be around 21 million units away from beating the PS4.

If trends continue, Sony could sell ~18-20 million units through FY26, pushing the cumulative total to around 113.2 to 115.2 million by the end of March 2027. That would leave exactly 2 million units remaining between the PS5 and PS4, and Sony may be able to achieve those sales in a single quarter, so by mid-2027 or May or June 2027, the PS5 could overlap the PS4 insofar as sales.