Sony: PS4 to "significantly exceed" lifetime PS3 sales

The PlayStation 3 has sold more than 80 million units worldwide, but Sony has even loftier ambitions for the recently released PlayStation 4.

"It has an opportunity to significantly exceed what we've been able to achieve with PS3 and there's a couple of reasons for that," Sony Computer Entertainment president and CEO Andrew House told MCV.

The first comes down to price, House said. "We start off with a price point that is much more consumer friendly than was there for the PS3," he said.

The PS4 sells for $399, compared to the PS3's original launch price of $499/$599 in 2006. Over the years, Sony brought the PS3 price down significantly, as it now starts at $199 for the 12GB model.

Another reason why House is confident the PS4 can beat the PS3 in lifetime sales comes down to Sony's ability to extend the gaming market to new regions.

"Also, one of the success stories for the business as a whole has been our ability to open up new geographies for video games over the last five years," he said. "You are seeing opportunities for new markets that we haven’t tapped into."

Lastly, House claimed the PS4 has an edge over the PS3 because of its suite of non-gaming applications and services that he says makes the system attractive to a wider audience.

"The other point is that we took several years to take PS3 from being a dual-function device to a multi-functional entertainment device. PS4 arrives with a full suite of those non-game entertainment services right from day one," he said.

"And that's important because there will be someone who wants this as a games device, but the fact it is a great place to view BBC iPlayer, for example, gives other family members reason to use it," he added. "That is crucial in broadening what the console's reach could be."

The PS4 has sold 2.1 million units across the world so far, less than one month after release. Sony expects to move another 900,000 in the 25 days remaining of 2013 and a total of 5 million before the end of the company's fiscal year in March 2014.