Sega Genesis
Sega sold 30.75 million Genesis units worldwide. Of these, 3.58 million were sold in Japan, and sales in Europe and the U.S. are roughly estimated at 8 million and 18–18.5 million as of June 1997 (at which time Sega was no longer manufacturing the system) respectively. In 1998, Sega licensed the Genesis to Majesco Entertainment in North America so it could re-release the console. Majesco began reselling millions of formerly unsold cartridges at a budget price, together with 150,000 units of the second model of the Genesis. It released the Sega Genesis 3, projecting to sell 1.5 million units of the console by the end of 1998. An estimated 3 million Genesis units were sold by Tec Toy in Brazil.
History of Sega
In response to a downturn in the arcade-game market in the early 1980s, Sega began to develop video game consoles—starting with the SG-1000 and Master System—but struggled against competitors like the Nintendo Entertainment System. Sega released its next console, the Sega Genesis (known as the Mega Drive outside of North America) in 1988. Although it initially struggled, the Genesis became a resounding commercial success after the release of "Sonic the Hedgehog" in 1991 and outsold its main competitor, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, throughout the first half of the 1990s. However, Sega experienced commercial failures in the second half of the decade such as the 32X, Sega Saturn, and Dreamcast. In 2001 Sega stopped manufacturing consoles to become a third-party developer and publisher, and was acquired by Sammy Corporation in 2004. Since the takeover, Sega has also developed smartphone games and reorganized its businesses. The company has since been more profitable than it had been after it exited the console market.