So it did not beat the Game Boy. By a bald man's hair it didn't reach it. Ooof.

Greater competition by both Nintendo and MS is not indicative of higher sales for PS5. People forget that, with the PS4, there was less overall competition because it's competitors shot themselves in the foot out the gate. 

Also, Sony killed the PS4 for a reason. In fact, both the Xbox One and PS4 were killed faster than their predecessors indicating that keeping old hardware available on store shelves may not have the benefits that it used to. Therefore, Sony could do the same with PS5. 

Anyway, it's not bias. It's reason. Xbox + PS sales have been notably consistent (gen 6 was 180M, gen 7 was 170M, gen 8 was 170M). When they are both offering generally the same thing then it's harder for them both to grow at the same time. Nintendo saw this which is why they made the Wii. Video gaming has become more popular, but I wouldn't expect such a significant change in the overall market that Sony can outsell it's second best selling console ever while MS outsells the Xbox One and MAYBE the 360 (though I think this is doubtful, it is still possible). 

I wonder if the PS4 can surpass Gameboy (118.69M) and take the #3 spot (until Switch surpasses PS4).

Exactly the points that I make as well.  Unless there is some huge influx in the PS/XB ecosystem, logic suggests that PS5 won't reach the PS4's numbers in the end, despite the high demand for the PS5 currently.  Microsoft is far stronger this time and the competition from Nintendo (though not as direct) is night and day compared to last generation.

The only way I see it happening is if the companies' successors stumble out of the gate or this gen lasts much longer than normal.  Then, maybe.  Otherwise, I think the PS5 matching PS4's numbers ain't in the cards.

117 million is a lot, there's no way a random console would reach it.

Congratulations Playstation 4.

I think others have all made good points. We have 3 generations of data now that suggests the absolute ceiling for the global console market is about 300 million units, and there is no sign that that has been increasing.

The PS4 benefitted immensely from both Nintendo and Microsoft being no shows for the 8th generation, but now in the 9th generation Sony faces robust competitive pressure from both Nintendo and Microsoft. In fact I can’t remember a console generation when all major participants had hyper competitive offerings.

The PS5 needed to be selling at least on par with the PS4 launch aligned up until now to have had any chance to outsell it, being several million units behind not even two years into a generation is a huge hole to have to have to climb out of. I just don’t see the path forward for the PS5 to outsell the PS4. There is just way too much competition in a market that isn’t growing, and frankly I think this is a large part of the reason why Sony is committing so heavily to PC now.

I thought it'd get to at least 118m but the sales collapse really was very swift. While it could've gotten to the 120's with different circumstances 117m is still a fantastic result placing the PS4 in the top 5 best selling systems ever.

It's not bias to think the PS5 will sell less than the PS4. The latter did fantastic so thinking the former will do great but not outright fantastic really shouldn't come across as bias when the competition is a lot stronger this time. Also Sony expecting something doesn't mean it's gonna happen and even if it regains the lead it can still lose it again years later since sales curves can differ a lot.

What's this, a console sales thread? Feel like 2012

well... people often forget the PS2 didn't get to where it did without getting the occasional price drop. And right now the PS4 really hasnt had a price drop. So if Sony wanted to keep the ball rolling, they could easily cut the price by 50-100. But PS4 are also cheap on the 2nd hand market that if anyone really wanted one... they can just go that route (w/games).

False. I expected 115-125m years before the PS5 launched, I also expected 115-120m one or 2 years before the PS5 launched. It collapsed exactly as I predicted.

PS5 has to play catch up. Because of the dire shipment issues the PS5 may never beat the PS4. The PS5 will probably have more years on the market, given industry trends, but the sales deficit so far will affect final LTD numbers quite severely. The PS5 could have been at 30m+ by now.