Its the 2nd fastest selling console of all time (thus far). It opened bigger than the Wii and PS2 and has consistently maintained a higher selling pace than PS2 worldwide, has kept close with the Wii (within 5 to 7 million between each other WW at the same time frame) / and traded blows with the Wii early one.
Ps4 currently sits at 95 million units sold and now its en-route to surpass the Wii in the next 16 weeks with the projected 116 million sales units for FY19.
This year, worldwide, PS4 has sold more than the Switch from January to March, in its 5th year on the market. This is a record selling pace, imo.
Not really, it has a window in the middle where it sits as a close #3.
PS4 was far behind the Wii pace for years 1-4. Wii had sold 85 million at the end of 2010, which is 4 years plus one quarter. PS4 in the same period (end of 2017) had sold 75 million.
In 2018 PS4 finally started outpacing the Wii, as the Wii lost pace in 2011 as third parties had abandoned it despite it being the runaway home console generation winner.
Starting soon, PS4 will fall well behind the PS2 and will likely stay there permanently as PS2 kept selling for a long long time.
And of course the DS towers above all of them, only finally right at the end of the curve falling behind PS2 because it was discontinued sooner.
So PS4 was the #3-4 of all time, slower than DS/Wii/PS2 years 1-4, has a window of maybe a year (launch aligned) where it will be a close #3, and will settle as a distant #3 again soon.
Distant #3 is not 'record' selling pace.
Edit: Lots of the PR about PS4 matching the PS2's pace ignores the PS2's much more staggered international launch. Launch alligning each market is much less kind to PS4/PS2 comparisons.