Sony Rumored To Ship 10 Million PlayStation 4 Units, Topping Xbox One

If PlayStation 4 and Xbox One have equal demand this fall, Sony's SNE console could still lead the market. According to DigiTimes, unnamed sources estimate that Sony will ship 10 million PlayStation 4 units in 2013. This estimate is based on mass component orders that are currently being shipped. In comparison, Microsoft MSFT is expected to ship seven to nine million Xbox One units. Consequently, if both consoles sell out during the holiday shopping season, Sony will lead by default because it shipped more units. This may be music to the ears of PlayStation fans and Sony investors alike. But make no mistake: these figures are far from final -- and they may be far from accurate. After all, this is the third shipment-related story that DigiTimes has published for PlayStation 4. The first was spawned by sources who had told the publication that Sony could ship 16 million units this year. DigiTimes' second report claimed that Sony had fallen behind schedule and may no longer ship 16 million units. Now the publication has stated that the number has dropped to 10 million units. Even in the best-case scenario, Sony could have a hard time shipping that many units to retail. Related: Sony's PlayStation 4 Inspires Another Change for Microsoft's Xbox One Before PlayStation 3 arrived in 2006, Sony planned to ship two million units. By the time the system arrived in the United States and Japan, only 500,000 units were available. Granted, that was just the first shipment. But it shows how difficult it can be to live up to admitted expectations. Sony has not publicly stated how many PlayStation 4 units it hopes to ship this year. If there is a silver lining here, it's that component makers believe that PlayStation 4 and Xbox One demand will remain strong in 2014 as the consoles are released in new territories. This should ensure that these machines will continue to perform well globally even after the holiday shopping season is over. Disclosure: At the time of this writing, Louis Bedigian had no position in the equities mentioned in this report. Louis Bedigian is the Senior Tech Analyst and Features Writer of Benzinga. You can reach him at 248-636-1322 or louis(at)benzingapro(dot)com. Follow him @LouisBedigianBZ