As of the beginning of March 2021, the COVID-19 restrictions. The shortages coincided with the introduction of lockdown and stay-at-home measures, during which many people turned to video games to the time. While many people hoped to get their hands on a PS5, most were unlucky; what little restocks there were sold out almost instantly.
This scarcity has driven up both demand for the PS5 and its price. Scalpers have taken advantage of this, charging outrageous sums for the console. Despite these prices, people are still buying them - scalper sales supposedly for 10 percent of all PS5 consoles sold. The shortage doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon; PS5s are still listed as sold out at almost every major retailer the instant that any restocks appear.
Despite this, the PlayStation 5 soared past 6 million sales worldwide, as of the start of March 2021. Data organized by Both consoles remain eclipsed by the Nintendo Switch, which sold 423,187 units during the week, bringing it to a grand total of 80.79 million units sold. The PS5 still has a long way to go compared to the PlayStation 4, which has sold over 115 million units in its lifetime and still sold 43,366 units during the same week period.
The PlayStation 5 has big shoes to fill overall. The PS2 is still the best-selling console of all time, and the Switch continues to outsell new-generation consoles. If Sony wants to stay competitive and win the console war in raw sales (which it was able to do with the PS4), it has to find workarounds to its manufacturing issues and make PS5s more generally available. Helping to combat scalpers would be a huge first step.
However, Sony has its work cut out for it. It's clear that the company knows what makes for a successful console, but as resolutions get higher and teraflops become more numerous, it becomes more difficult to straddle the line between high processing power and accessibility to the average consumer. Only time will tell if Sony be able to :win" this generation's sales race with its its exclusive titles and the PS5's relative power alone.
Source: VGChartz
