Sony aiming to sell 5 million PS4 consoles before March 2014

Sony has revealed that it aims to sell at least 5 million PlayStation 4 consoles before the end of its 2013 fiscal year, which closes at the end of March 2014.

The announcement was made by Sony Computer Entertainment president and group CEO Andrew House as part of the company's Tokyo Game Show press conference held today in Japan.

"Our plan is to sell 5 million PS4s by the end of 2013," House said. President of Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida clarified on Twitter that the figure will include sales until the end of March next year.

The PlayStation 4 will launch first in North America on November 15, followed two weeks later by European and Australian releases on November 29. Yesterday the company announced plans to release its new home console in Asian territories--South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan--in December this year. The system will not go on sale in Japan until February 2014.

Last month during Gamescom, Sony announced that more than 1 million PlayStation 4 preorders had been placed globally.