PlayStation 2 Shipments Hit 90 Million Units

Officials from Sony Computer Entertainment have announced that cumulative production shipments of the PlayStation 2 console have reached 90 million units worldwide, as of June 2nd, an impressive total that shows Sony leading its current-gen console competition by significantly more than 50 million units. Following the release of the new slimline version, shipments reached 16.17 million in the last fiscal year, ended March 2005. Shipments of 90 million units since the console’s launch in Japan on March 4th 2000 represents a penetration speed more than 2 years and 3 months faster than the original PlayStation, which had a lifetime sales figure of just over 100 million. Sony calculates that lifetime shipments for the PlayStation 2 will be around 120 million In terms of software, more than 5,000 titles are currently available for the PlayStation 2 (including backwards compatible PlayStation games), with cumulative lifetime shipments of over 800 million units. Software shipments reached an all-time high of 252 million units in 2004. Cumulative console shipments by territories amount to 21.04 million units in Asia and Japan, 36.48 million units in North America and 32.48 million units in Europe and other PAL territories. By comparison, worldwide shipments for the Xbox are currently put at approximately 21 million units, with Microsoft currently slowing production of the current Xbox as the Xbox 360 launch later this year nears. Nintendo's GameCube is fairly close behind Microsoft's console, having a worldwide user base of around 18 million.