PlayStation Vita unit sales reach 1.2 million, exceeds internal expectations

Sony PlayStation Vita

Sony announced this morning that its latest handheld gaming device, PS Vita, has sold 1.2 million units as of February 26, exceeding internal company expectations.

PS Vita was first released on December 17, 2011 in Japan, selling 321,407 units in two days before sales quickly slowed to 400,000 units by year’s end. Unit sales in Japan reportedly hit 578,812 as of February 19 this year. At launch, the device boosted 26 game titles.

PS Vita then launched in other parts of Asia, namely in Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea, late last year, although no specific sales figures have been released for these regions.

On February 22, PS Vita launched in North America, South America, Europe and Singapore, and Australia on February 23. The 3G PS Vita model is not yet available in Canada.

It’s fair to say that PS Vita sales between February 19 and February 26 amounted to more than 620,000 units minus those sold in Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea prior to this period.

As well as surpassing 1.2 million unit sales overall, over two million game titles have either been sold in physical stores or sold as downloadable content worldwide since launch.

Andrew House, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment commented on the device’s success to date,

“The market has responded and there is clear demand for a mobile device capable of providing a revolutionary combination of rich gaming and social connectivity within a real world context.

“To sustain momentum, we’re working closely with third-party developers and publishers to ensure the best games and franchises possible will be available on PS Vita, and our software line up for the remainder of 2012 will have something for everyone across the globe.”

It’s difficult to comment on the overall success of the PS Vita at this early stage, but at present it appears to lie somewhere in between the PSP and Nintendo 3DS in terms of early adoption, with the 3DS being at the higher end of that scale.