From Kotaku:

Lifetime Sales Figures For The PlayStation 3

By Luke Plunkett, 8:20 PM on Fri Jul 31 2009, 3,556 views (Edit, to draft, Top, Slurp)

Copy this whole post to another site

Slurp cancel

select site advertising consumerist deadspin defamer fleshbot gay fleshbot gawker gizmodo idolator io9 jalopnik jezebel kotaku lifehacker valleywag artists gawkershop sploid

Every time Sony releases their quarterly earnings, they update their records to show exactly how many consoles and games have been sold to the public over the past few months. Let's take a look at the PS3 figures then, eh?

In 2006, Sony decided to start tracking how many consoles and games they sold all the way through to customers, not just to retailers (which is how most other companies record "sales"). It's an admirable practice, and one which gives us a very accurate picture of how the PS3 (and its games) are faring, since these figures have been available for the entirety of the machine's lifespan.

Anyway, here are the numbers, which cover the period from launch until June 30, 2009:

PS3 consoles: 23.8 million
PS3 software: 189.7 million (all publishers, includes both retail and PSN titles)

@ Did Kotaku reported the bolded part in error? How does Sony track console sales all the way through to the customers? Is it taken in error from the recent financial report?

They use Vgchartz

Kotaku is full of shit. In 2006 Sony switched from a questionable practice of "shipped to Sony warehouses" to "shipped to retail".

It's not so bad considering how much it costs.

Vchartz has just under 2.3mil total sale for ps3 :) They're using something else.... and I thought the recent financial report only goes up to March?

^^ This is what I'm talking about, that's something I can believe rather than 'sell through to customers'