PS5 Sales Pass 10 Million, But How Many Consoles Did Sony Sell in India?

Last week, Sony announced that the PS5 sold over 10 million units internationally. It past that milestone on July 18. During an earnings call this week the company said it shipped 10.1 million consoles as of June, essentially selling out its entire supply. And while the company is breaking records globally, it’s doing so in India as well. IGN India is able to report after speaking to multiple distributors and retailers that PS5 India sales have passed 20,000. Sources amongst multiple distributors and retailers all independently confirmed that more than 20,000 units have been sold across the country.

This includes grey market purchases and parallel imports available since the console’s worldwide launch in November 2020 along with official sales for the console since it’s February 2, 2021 release date in India, making it the fastest-selling console in the country ever. We contacted Sony to verify these claims. Considering the company hasn’t broken out India sales since 2015, it’s unlikely we’ll receive a response.

While this may seem like a drop in the ocean when compared to the global sales of 10 million, for perspective: the PS4 sold 50,000 units in it’s first year and a half in India. Right now, Sony has sold around 550,000 units of the PS4 since its launch in 2014. The PS3 sold close to 375,000 in its lifetime (2007 to 2014 in India) while the PS2 sold close to one million units from 2003 to 2013. It will be interesting to see what the uptake is like when Sony is able to get its PS5 supply in order. More so with the inevitable first round of price drops that usually have more takers in markets like India.

As for game sales, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War continues to be the number one seller in the market. Fascinating since Activision hasn’t brought it in officially. This is followed by the likes of Spider-Man: Miles Morales (despite a somewhat weak day one reception, Insomniac’s second Spider-Man game has recovered well at retail), FIFA 21, Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, Hitman 3, and Resident Evil Village (which incidentally had its best launch for the series ever in India). Sony’s first-party games while expensive, show up on time too. Although sales for recent exclusives like Returnal and Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart are slow, stores tell us.

Frequent discounts as well on staples like FIFA 21 and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla for the PS5 have cemented sales on Sony’s platform. Digital downloads may be in ascendance the world over, but Indian buyers are value conscious and go where the deals are. It just so happens that most of them tend to be on physical copies. Sony has a large footprint at retail and that helps its cause.

It’s a welcome course correction. Sony had one of the worst launches in Indian gaming history with the PS5 where everything that could go wrong, did. That said, it manage to sort out multiple restocks in quick succession in the months of May, June, and July. While Sony does not comment on restocks, sources at the company tell IGN India that there are plans for an August restock as well. Though, there’s still a lot more to do.

“While PS5 has reached more households faster than any of our previous consoles, we still have a lot of work ahead of us as demand for PS5 continues to outstrip supply. I want gamers to know that while we continue to face unique challenges throughout the world that affect our industry and many others, improving inventory levels remains a top priority for SIE,” said Jim Ryan, president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment in a prepared statement.

Hopefully some of these improvements trickle down to markets like India where the PS5 sells out in moments with reports of Sony itself limiting quantities at stores.

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