According to Media Create:

3DS: 8.089.518
PS3: 8.598.255

According to Famitsu

3DS: 8.025.672
PS3: 8.471.704

So, by famitsu numbers, maybe there's a chance of that happening in november.

Won't do it in Japan. DS was doin around 8 million a year in Japan alone by this time. 3DS will do 5-6 mil this year. Still VERY impressive feat! And still Pokemon, MH4, the next DQ (foregone conclusion now) and lots of million sellers to be released.

Edit: Btw the 3DS sold around 1.7-1.8 million in December. It will surpass the PS3 probably by December. Crazy 3DS! 

According to the JP trackers:

Media Create about a 500k difference.

3DS: 8,089,518

PS3: 8,598,255

Famitsu/Enterbrain about a 450k difference.

3DS: 8,025,672

PS3: 8,471,704

The 3DS should overtake the PS3 before the end of the year. It sold extremely well during the holiday season last year and will most likely do pretty well this holiday season as well. Next on the list is the Wii at about 12.6 million, which should happen next year.

It will be hard to overtake the original DS as it is the best selling system in Japan EVER at almost 33 million LTD. The next closest system is the PS2 at under 22 million LTD. That's a pretty big gap between the the top two positions. The PSP is at 19 - 19.5 million (depending on the tracker).

You are right, it's selling great but not as good as the original DS did.

DS vs 3DS in Japan:

DS 2005: 4.2 million / 3DS 2011: 4.3 million

DS 2006: 8.4 million / 3DS 2012: 5-6 million (currently at 3.8 million)

DS 2007: 7.2 million / 3DS = ??? 

The 3DS sold on par with the DS after the price cut but the DS really exploded in 2006. Those 8.4 million sales were achieved with heavy supply constraints. But you could be right in the future. If there's a new Pokemon game next year and a hardware revision the 3DS could actually come close to those 7.2m sales posted by the DS in 2007. And if its sales decrease slower than the original DS' sales there might be a chance for it to come very close (the DS dropped from 7.2m to 4.2 million in just one year) but that's all just speculation for now. What we saw with the release of Animal Crossing ist that the platform does indeed have the potential to post huge sales. Next year is when the true wave of huge software will be released.

As for worldwide the 3DS is selling way slower than the DS did. But again next year will be big for the 3DS (Animal Crossing, Brain Training, Luigi's Mansion, Monster Hunter and potentially Pokemon + hardware revision) so the platform might turn out to have a "late" sales explosion (basically what happened to the DS in year 2, just one year later this time).

Indeed it has, but it won't keep the pace, DS sales were just something else. 2013 is going to be a fantastic year in Japan, and they may release something in Q 3 and Q4 to keep the momentum, but 2d and 3d Mario have already been released, so is MK. The only thing really big left is Pokemon.

UHmm, actually if they have Monster Hunter 5, and Dragon Quest XI, they might even pull it. Actually, if PSV dies, and all devs must turn to 3DS, it's quite possible. Still, the most plausible scenario is to have fewer sells than DS.