Gains made by improving the manufacturing process could be spurring rumours of a new PS4.5 in the works.
Sony's latest financial briefing has offered an insight into the PlayStation 4's strength, as the company said it had shipped 17.7 million consoles over the 12 month period ending March 31, 2016. The number puts the total amount of PlayStation 4 shipments at 40 million.
Japanese entertainment giant Sony had previously disclosed total sales at the end of 2015, with these shipment figures providing an additional but more approximate yardstick by which to measure the games machine's popularity. Microsoft's Xbox division stopped disclosing its sales figures by the start of 2014, when the Xbox One stood at 3 million, with its shipment numbers also kept in-house after November of the same year (close to 10 million at the time).
Early trends indicated that the PlayStation 4 had not stopped gathering momentum, with 4.2 million units sold by January 2014, 13.5 million by the start of October and 18.5 million by the close of the year. It was left to third-party publisher and frequent Microsoft collaborator Electronic Arts to reveal that 19 million Xbox Ones had been sold by January 2016, by which time the PS4 was on 35.6 million sales. That said, it would be hard to beat the PlayStation 4's uptake since that November 2013 launch.
For much of its first year of availability, it was looking like the PS4 would outstrip even the wildly popular Nintendo Wii in like-for-like comparisons. And given the way that Sony used smaller, more budget-friendly revisions of both the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 to encourage further sales, it seems likely that any slowdown in sales will soon be offset by a new edition of the PS4.
Sony has already referred to gains made by reducing the console's manufacturing costs. Those efficiencies could be capitalised on with an updated model. A lower price, perhaps even performance advantages, would be there to attract increased ownership. Those sorts of considerations have helped drive rumours surrounding a "PlayStation 4.5," a PS4 whose upgraded capabilities would stave off rapid iterations in smartphone and tablet tech, as well as 2017's much anticipated Nintendo NX.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "dnaTechGaming, console gaming, PS4.5, Sony, PS4, Xbox One, Microsoft, Nintendo NX")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}