PS4 Sells 320,000 in First 48 Hours in Japan

Sony has sold 320,000 units during the opening 48 hours of the PS4's availability in Japan. The console, which launched in the region last Friday, easily beat the 88,000 mark reached by the PS3 during the same timeframe in 2006. 

Over 5.3 million PS4s had been sold worldwide prior to the Japanese launch since the November 15th North American release which marked the first time a PlayStation platform has been on sale outside of Sony's home region first. 

The information comes from Famitsu which notes that the Wii U sold 308,570 during its opening weekend in 2012. Sony has not officially confirmed the PS4's opening weekend numbers however. 

While the PS4 is the fastest selling console in history worldwide, Sony could not match the staggering performance of the PS2's opening 48 hours in Japan when they managed to shift 630,552 units. 

The Xbox One is not currently available in Japan and Microsoft has not revealed a timeline for when the console might debut in the region but Xbox systems, both the original console and the Xbox 360, have struggled to gain traction in the country. 

Last July, Yasuyuki Higuchi, the president and CEO of Microsoft Japan admitted to the problems Xbox faces in the country saying, "[Xbox One] is geared towards a Western lifestyle, and we're looking at whether or not to launch it 'as is' in Japan. We're still figuring out how to deal with things like music and video services in each country. To be honest, [releasing Xbox One in Japan] as is would be difficult."

Given Sony's headstart and strong initial performance, Microsoft may find itself faced with another considerable challenge when they do eventually release the Xbox One in Japan.