56M PS3s Shipped Worldwide, Approaching Xbox 360 Levels

As part of its latest financial report, Sony revealed it has shipped 56 million PlayStation 3s worldwide to date, putting it within spitting distance of total shipment numbers for the once dominant Xbox 360. Microsoft reported in October it has shipped 57.3 million Xbox 360s, a relatively small lead for Microsoft's console, considering that it once leveraged its early launch and lower price into a headstart in shipments over the PS3. But recent price cuts have sped up the worldwide adoption rate for Sony's system, which shipped 3.7 million units in the last completed quarter, up from 3.5 million last year. Despite the new price point, though, the Xbox 360 continues to outsell the PS3 in North America. Back in August of 2009, Gamasutra sales analyst Matt Matthews predicted the PS3 would pass the Xbox 360 in total worldwide sales sometime in 2011. Aside from shipments and sales, a March report from Strategy Analytics estimated that Sony had already passed Microsoft as far as active users were concerned, with 43.4 million PS3s beating the 42.9 million Xbox 360s being used at the end of 2010.