Sony PS4 sales surge past record 10 million mark

Tokyo: Sony said on Wednesday that global sales of its PlayStation 4 console have surged past the 10 million mark in less than a year, a record for the Japanese electronics giant. The console, released in November last year, has been a bright spot for the struggling firm which earlier this year launched a sweeping restructuring in an attempt to claw back to profitability.

The release of the PS4 in the United States and other markets has helped to improve Sony's fortunes after a disappointing response to the console's predecessor, the PS3. By comparison, Nintendo's Wii U, launched in late 2012, took more than a year to sell 5.86 million units.

The PS4 is locked in a battle for dominance of the digital home entertainment market with Microsoft's Xbox One and the Wii U at a time when consoles are under intense pressure to prove their worth in a world where many now play downloadable games on smartphones and tablets. "It's a remarkable milestone that reinforces PS4's record-breaking pace and the movement it has created among players globally in defining next-generation gaming," Shawn Layden, president and chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment America, said in a statement.

Last month, Sony posted a profit in the first quarter, attributing it largely to strong demand for the PS4 and a sharp decline in the value of the yen. Sony's gaming division has emerged as a potential saviour for the company, which is struggling to reinvent itself in the digital age, having been left in the dust by nimbler rivals including South Korea's Samsung.