PS4 unit sales reached more than 6 million during the holidays

Last September, Sony unveiled two new iterations of its flagship PlayStation 4 console: the customary slim version and the beefier PS4 Pro. The former was immediately available after the announcement, while the latter would arrive two months later. This one-two punch allowed the PS4 to reach the 50 million mark in worldwide unit sales, a milestone Sony was happy to announce early last month. And the recently concluded holiday season - unless you're not done celebrating yet - had a lot to with that milestone.

Sony just announced that 6.2 million PS4 units were sold during the holidays, bringing the total to 53.4 million as of January 1, 2017. The number reflects total sales of all three PS4 versions. If you do the math, it means the 50 million mark was crossed thanks to the holiday season sales. In case you're curious, "holiday season" for Sony started on November 20 and ended on December 31 (add one day if you live in North America).

Of course, there was also the infamous Black Friday event during the last week of November which surely gave the PS4 a huge helping hand. Sony acknowledged as much. The PS4, according to Sony, had "enjoyed [its] best ever Black Friday week." All in all, the numbers only prove what we already know: the PS4 is still way ahead of its rival, the Microsoft Xbox One, in terms of unit sales. Don't let the latter's recent top-seller streak during the last few months fool you.

However, the PS4 still has a long way to go before it reaches the eye-popping numbers the PS2 put up. PS2 unit sales stand at more than 155 million. They don't call it as the "best-selling console of all-time" for nothing. Before the PS4 dreams about reaching that 150 million mark, it needs to surpass the PS3 first, which sold more than 80 million units. Then comes the first PlayStation console which sold 100 million units.

Overall, the PS4 sits just outside the top 10 in the best-selling console list, clocking in at 12th place behind the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and the Nintendo 3DS. Not counting handheld consoles, the PS4 ranks 7th overall. With the PS4 Pro upgrade, it looks like a PS5 won't be arriving anytime soon. So it's still possible for Sony's current flagship console to move up the rankings.

Source: Sony