PlayStation 3 closing in on 23 million units

Sony's 2008 financial results show that the PlayStation 3 is closing on 23 million units shipped worldwide.

Sony's 2008 results, in the fiscal-year ending March 31st 2009, show that the company sold 10.06 million PlayStation 3's for the year, up 10 per cent from a year earlier.

When adding fiscal-2007's numbers (9.12 million) and fiscal-2006 launch sales (3.61 million), the PlayStation 3 is closing in on 23 million units sold (shipped) worldwide, which it is expected to surpass when April 2009 sales are included.

The company predicts that the console will sell 13 million units during this fiscal-year. This increase is either extremely optimistic, or presumes a price cut, new model, or killer software.

The PSP also saw increased sales at 14.11 million, up from 2007's 13.81 million. PlayStation 2 hardware and software sales were down significantly and the company expects to sell 3 million less in 2009 than in 2008.

Sony's 2008 fiscal results reveal an annual loss of 98.9 billion yen (£685.20 million/$1.04 billion), with losses continuing in the gaming division but tapered by the PlayStation 3's success. You can read more about this by making your way to our follow up story.