How many units of the PlayStation 3 were sold worldwide?

The PlayStation 3 sold approximately 87.4 million units worldwide.

Sony launched the PS3 in Japan in November 2006, followed by North America and Europe. Its early sales were slowed by a high launch price, costly hardware, and a limited launch-game lineup. The console also used the technically ambitious Cell processor and included a Blu-ray drive, features that increased manufacturing costs.

Sales improved after Sony introduced price cuts and redesigned versions, including the slimmer PS3 Slim in 2009 and the smaller Super Slim in 2012. A strong software library—including Uncharted, LittleBigPlanet, The Last of Us, and Gran Turismo 5—also helped the system recover commercially.

The figure is often confused with the PS2's much larger total of more than 155 million units, or with the PS3's roughly 87 million software-related figures. Sony's reported total places the PS3 just ahead of Microsoft's Xbox 360 in lifetime sales.