Sony has revealed its sales figures for the end of 2009 - and they're impressive

So impressive that the gap between the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 could be down to as little as 5.5 million units worldwide. Microsoft announced its 39 million figure at CES in January to much acclaim, but Sony has followed up with 6.5 million consoles sold in the final quarter of 2009 bringing it up to 33.5 million worldwide. In the same quarter of 2008 Sony managed sales of 4.5 million, so the improvement in performance is clear.

In fact, between March 2009 and December 31 2009 Sony reports it sold 10.8 million units putting it well on target for the 13 million it expects to have sold by March this year. The gap between the consoles is now reaching the point where the release of just two or three major games on the PS3 could see the consoles neck and neck. It just so happens that Sony has God Of War III and Gran Turismo 5 on the way.

The momentum would appear to be with Sony then as 2010 kicks into gear and that puts the pressure back on Microsoft. It doesn’t seem like much of a coincidence that the Xbox 360 maker has announced X10, it’s first company focused convention in four years. X06 was the last major Microsoft event, but has since then been restricted to small gatherings in Canada.

X10 will need to be something special if Microsoft wants to fight off the PS3 with so many games lined up in its immediate future. In the mean time both companies will be secure in the knowledge that despite a global recession they managed to sell more consoles than ever in 2009 and can probably expect to do the same again in 2010.

[via VG247]