PlayStation 4 preorders 'much higher' than its predecessor

In an investor call this morning, Sony Computer Entertainment said that it expected to ship 5 million PlayStation 4s by the end of March 2014, a figure it said it drew from the record number of preorders being placed worldwide. "Compared to past platforms, the preorders that we have received for this new platform [the PlayStation 4] is much, much higher," said Sony chief financial officer Masaru Kato, as transcribed on Seeking Alpha (free subscription required). As recently as August, SCE said that global preorders for the PS4 had exceeded 1 million. Global figures for PlayStation 3 are not ready to hand, although it is quite true that the overall market for consoles continues to be on an upward trend. Kato said that in addition to the high number of preorders, the platform's launch lineup prompted a vote of confidence. "Sometimes, when we launch a new platform, the software catalog is not sufficient," said Kato. "This year, on a comparative basis, I think we have a much more stronger (sic) lineup of software coming." Sony's PlayStation 4 is scheduled to launch November 15th in North America and November 29th in Europe and Australia.