PlayStation 5 began to surpass PlayStation 4 in sales dynamics in Japan, while Xbox Series X | S still lags behind Xbox One

Within 24 weeks of launch Playstation 5 658 thousand new generation consoles were sold in Japan. This is evidenced by the latest statistics from the publication FamitsuPlayStation 4 sales for the same period of time since debut in 2014 – 643 thousand

As previously reported, the PlayStation 5 launched in Japan much worse than the PlayStation 4, but this was primarily due to the deficit for it, which remains to this day. Over the following months, the new system was able to catch up with its predecessor in terms of sales speed, and now it began to bypass it, and the difference between them will only increase. The fact is that the demand for the PlayStation 5 significantly exceeds the supply, so Sony is quickly selling everything it ships, while the PlayStation 4 by this time in 2014 was freely available, and its Japanese sales left much to be desired.

The table below shows the difference in sales of PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 in Japan by week.… The first, if available in the public domain, was sold in the amount of 5-6 thousand pieces per week, and the second remains in short supply, but thanks to regular deliveries, it is sold in runs of 15-20, and sometimes 40 thousand pieces.

At the same time, the weak link of the new console continues to be sales of games in Japanese retail – they are extremely rare guests on the charts. In contrast, in the UK and elsewhere in Europe, each new PlayStation 5 shipment results in a skyrocketing spike for console games in the physical charts.

Some experts associate low sales of PlayStation 5 games in Japan with high reseller activity, pointing out that a large part of the consoles are sold in China and other countries. However, it is not possible to calculate all this. Nobody keeps such statistics, and what is really happening is unknown.

The big test for the PlayStation 5 in Japan will be the launch of high-profile games like Resident evil village from Capcom… On PlayStation 4, with iron sales of 500-600 thousand pieces, games were released with sales of 100 thousand copies in the first week. For example, Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes

Xbox Series X | S is also in short supply in Japan, but in terms of total sales it still falls short of the Xbox One, which in turn sold worse than the Xbox 360 and Xbox. Stores sell 100 to 1,500 pieces every week.

Both Sony and Microsoft acknowledge the importance of the Japanese market for the PlayStation and Xbox, and are actively working with Japanese gaming companies.

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