All purpose Sales and Sales Rumors and Anecdotes [2018 Edition]

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That Spiderman ps4 is pretty spiffy. I can see it selling a lot.

I am prepared to be surprised but I get the feeling that these special edition consoles don't sell in big numbers.

What is the real market here? People who want to play Spider-Man on PS4 but have not bought a PS4 in the five years it's been out, people with an existing PS4 who are super Spider-Man fans and buy this console and sell their existing one, and....
 
I just had Amazon Assistant suggest PS4 bundles among its highly random suggestions (at least no electric toothbrushes today), which seemed contrary to a suggested spat, so I had a ganders. Most of these PS4 consoles are dispatched from and sold by Amazon:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07CJMNXFW/?tag=b3d-21

Most of these PSVR headset also dispatched and sold by Amazon
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07F7ZC4C5/?tag=b3d-21

Are any PS products appearing in US Amazon?

When I looked just now all PS4s on US Amazon were either out of stock or sold by 3rd parties. At best you can find some that are sold by 3rd parties but fulfilled by Amazon (3rd parties send the consoles to Amazon warehouse to then sell from there for people who might not know).

I'm guessing supply maybe got interrupted/very low during disputed contract negotiations or something.

Regards,
SB
 
https://www.dualshockers.com/ps4-sales-june-2018/

PS4 keeps trucking.

“Sales are expected to be significantly higher than the April forecast primarily due to higher-than-expected PlayStation 4 (“PS4”) software sales including sales through the network"

This is why I feel the razor blade model is more relevant next gen than ever before. They should go all out with the hardware even if they have to take a big loss on hardware for the first year or more even. That loss would be a drop in the ocean if they maintain and grow there network.
 
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It's not really a drop. $100 loss per unit means $1 billion lost profits every 10 million units. Given the lower opportunities for price reduction next box (depending on hardware choices), you could be looking at a notable loss for every console for the entire generation. The launch price and hardware needs to be very considered and can't flippantly pull a Kutaragi on the expectation that future revenues will eclipse any amount of hardware expense.
 
It's a balancing act, the end game is to grow your network. If you lose 5 billion early because of hardware losses but make an extra 10 billion because of network growth in the long run it's a win.

If you don't lose 5 billion on your hardware but your competition does and hence you lose 10 billion long term because of your network contracting it's a big loss.

Those figures I used are all pie in the sky obviously but it gets the point across.

Everything is going to be about getting people in your network in my opinion and it's going to be massive if you can be the "big dog" in that space because it will be a snowball effect. In fact I'm willing to bet that who ever wins the network battle next gen will win it big and over 6 years 10 billion will be nothing for the winner. But yeah this is where the balancing and how much risk you willing to take comes into play. I'm a firm believer in that if you got the lead and mindshare you go all in to get to an unattainable position.

On the other hand it all comes down to what does the extra $100 dollars get you in tech. If it provides a tangible difference go for it but it probably won't though so yeah. Then you much better of spending that 5 billion on first party game development. In fact thinking about it the software probably will have a bigger impact in locking people into your network.
 
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It's a balancing act, the end game is to grow your network. If you lose 5 billion early because of hardware losses but make an extra 10 billion because of network growth in the long run it's a win.
Yes, I appreciate that. I was just pointing out that your point that losses are 'just a drop in the ocean' undervalue the financial impact of lossy hardware. It's not just a drop in the ocean. It's a significant cost that needs to be very carefully considered to get the right balance. If it was just a drop in the ocean, it wouldn't matter how much loss you incurred.

Sony's own numbers consider the network business to be a trillion yen (~$900 billion) opportunity. Securing the totality of that market, it'd be easy to blow 10% of profits on overly costly hardware.
 
Yes, I appreciate that. I was just pointing out that your point that losses are 'just a drop in the ocean' undervalue the financial impact of lossy hardware. It's not just a drop in the ocean. It's a significant cost that needs to be very carefully considered to get the right balance. If it was just a drop in the ocean, it wouldn't matter how much loss you incurred.

Sony's own numbers consider the network business to be a trillion yen (~$900 billion) opportunity. Securing the totality of that market, it'd be easy to blow 10% of profits on overly costly hardware.

For PS4 launch Sony was losing 60 dollars by units. One game sales and one PS plus subscription was enough to cover the cost. It seems seeing forecast for fiscal years 2019 and 2021, analysts expected Sony to lost more money per PS5 units than PS4 launch. Early adopters are probably the people buying at least a game and subscribe to PS Plus at launch.

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/...-recoup-playstation-4-hardware-loss-at-launch

They will not lost 200 to 250 dollars per launch unit sold like PS3.
 
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Console holders really don't like to make a loss on HW, especially big ones. Heck, they are looking into every dollar, because saving just 1$ per console over the course of the entire generation means they can fund few big AAA games more [or they simply save money they did not have to waste. All of them are public companies at the end of the day, shareholders don't like unoptimized products].

Aaanyhow, PS4 is really not going to get a pricedrop anytime soon. Its very solid [present and future] software offering and market dominance is ensuring constant high sales.
 
Console holders really don't like to make a loss on HW, especially big ones. Heck, they are looking into every dollar, because saving just 1$ per console over the course of the entire generation means they can fund few big AAA games more [or they simply save money they did not have to waste. All of them are public companies at the end of the day, shareholders don't like unoptimized products].

Aaanyhow, PS4 is really not going to get a pricedrop anytime soon. Its very solid [present and future] software offering and market dominance is ensuring constant high sales.

The PS4 will have a price drop with the next redesign when the process will be 7nm and they will maybe use some GDDR6.
 
Some leaks from Aquamarine at Gaf.

1) Switch physical software almost outsold PS4 physical software this month (missed by only $3 million)....and both were significantly larger than Xbox One physical software

2) The digital ratio is now 42.5%....a TREMENDOUS amount of the industry is now digital

3) PS4 + Switch + Xbox One physical software now comprise 92% of physical software sales....RIP 3DS

4) Labo continues to be incredibly weak at USA retail...weak launch, weak second month, and weak once again this month

PS4 Pro outsold Xbox One X this month by more than 30K. It's an interesting phenomenon to see PS4 Pro having an overall stronger presence in the USA market, even if it appears to be less marketed and weaker.
 
Some leaks from Aquamarine at Gaf.
Have always said that I think X would have a more successful launch than Pro, but with a steeper decline. And that Pro would probably sell more than X overall while probably being more profitable.

But even I'm a bit surprised that Pro is outselling X by a pretty good margin even in the US. I figured it would be a close race, but the Pro would outsell X significantly outside of the US.

I've seen a lot of people outside of these forums comment and say how Pro was a mistake and Sony are dumb... I can't help but smh. This is a mid-gen refresh after all, not a new console. They invested just what they needed to and the Pro does its job. X is serving the same purpose, but with likely a lot more invested into it, with (I think) less return (at least in the short term).

Not saying X is a bad product or was a bad idea. It was a way for MS to show their fan base and gamers that they are determined to improve. They needed to release a strong console to makeup for all of their fuck ups. So while it may not end up being as successful as Pro, it will help them going forward, and I think that was their plan all along.
 
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