The PS5 release date could be delayed to as late as 2021, as the current PlayStation continues to dominate the hardware charts.
That’s according to IDC research director Lewis Ward, who told Gamingbolt that Sony’s console be a long time coming.
“Right now I think PS5 and the next-gen Xbox will arrive in 2021, but that’s really just a tentative placeholder in my forecast,” he said.
The popularity of the PS4 could have a factor in when Sony decides to release the PlayStation 5.
Indeed, Ward believes the PS4 will be the first current-gen console to hit 100 million sales, potentially by 2019.
“I think the PS4 will probably get there in 2019,” Ward added.
Industry analysts like Michael Pachter have predicted a slightly earlier release date for the PS4 successor.
Pachter believes that the new console could arrive as early as 2019, but is more likely to launch in 2020.
Interestingly, Pachter also thinks the success of the PS4 could have an impact on the console’s release date.
“Sony’s making so much money with the PS4 that I think they’ll continue to milk it as long as they can milk it,” he said.
Sony is expected to position the PS4 Pro as the default PlayStation, and will eventually lower the price point.
But the PS4 hasn’t had everything its own way, particularly since the launch of the Nintendo Switch.
The Nintendo Switch was the most searched console on Google in 2017, followed by the Xbox One X.
Elsewhere, the latest Nintendo Switch sales stats indicate that the console has sold 2.9 million units in its native Japan.
That’s compared to 3.3 million lifetime Wii U sales and 5.7 million PS4 sales.
At this rate, the Nintendo Switch could overtake the Wii U by the end of this year and the PS4 sometime in 2018.