Playstation 2 shipments top 90 million units

By Wolfgang Gruener, Senior Editor
June 3, 2005 - 10:52 EST

Tokyo - Next-generation game consoles already are knocking
on our doors, but Sony's Playstation 2 is still selling like hot-
cakes. The company announced that it has shipped more than
90 million units since it went on sale in March of 2000.

Microsoft aims for the top-spot with its upcoming Xbox 360.
But kicking Sony from the first rank will be not an easy task,
considering sales figures of the Playstation 2 (PS2) released
today. According to Sony Computer Entertainment (SCEI),
the PS2 passed the 90- million mark on June 2 and is well on
its way to surpass the original Playstation, which has sold more
than 100 million times to date.

Compared to its predecessor, the PS2 is selling in an accelerated
pace. The 90-million mark was reached 27 months quicker.
A major contributor to the success was the introduction of the
slim-line PS2 in November of last year, Sony said. Global
shipments of PlayStation 2 included 36.5 million units in
North America, 32.5 million in Europe and 21.0 million in Asia,
according to the company. Despite the fact that the PS3 will
begin shipping in 2006, Sony said it will continue publishing
software titles for the PS2. More than 5000 are available
today with shipments having reached more than 800 million
units.

According to Sony, 252 million units were sold in 2004 alone.
While a release date of the next Playstation has not been
officially announced, game developers and distributors are
indicating that the console will go on sale on May 1, 2006.

Related stories: Playstation 3 to debut in May of 2006?

Source: Tom's Hardware