PS5 Outsells XSX/S in Japan, But Both Are Sold Out

In the first few days after launch, PS5 sales in Japan were more than five times higher than that of Xbox Series X/S. During that period, Sony's new console found almost 120 thousand buyers.

Japan is currently the only large country where accurate sales figures for new games and consoles are still being published. This is no different for the Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5, which debuted in the Land of the Rising Sun last week. As we can predict, in terms of the number of sold units, Sony's latest system has left Xbox Series X/S far behind.

Between November 12 and 15, the Japanese bought 118 thousand PS5s in total. As far as Microsoft's platform is concerned, the result achieved by it is almost six times lower. Between November 10 and 15, only 20 thousand Xboxes Series X/S were sold.

For the sake of comparison, a total of 322,000 PlayStation 4 units were bought in Japan within the first two days of its launch in 2014. This much higher figure, however, was the result of a few months' delay in the launch of the console in Japan compared to the USA and Europe. Sony was then able to solve the problems with supply and production. It is possible that PlayStation 5 would have found more buyers if it hadn't been for the limited availability of the system on the market and the fact that, as in other countries, the system disappeared from stores in an instant.

Japanese shops sold out all the new consoles. Photo: Reuters

The Xbox Series X lost even to the original Xbox One in Japan. Within three days of its launch in 2014, the latter system sold 23 thousand units. Whatever Sony and Microsoft do, the real winner in Japan remains Nintendo Switch, which has long surpassed the PS4 with its 9 million consoles sold. This year, both Switch models have been sold to more than 15 million Japanese people in total.