Japan Sales Thread *renamed

I think 300k would be a great number

Why? They sold only 600k in the US so far, supply limited. They are not supply limited anymore it seems, so I'm expecting much higher numbers.

You think it's 'great' if the initial demand for the new Playstation is <1million units in the US?
 
Why? They sold only 600k in the US so far, supply limited. They are not supply limited anymore it seems, so I'm expecting much higher numbers.

You think it's 'great' if the initial demand for the new Playstation is <1million units in the US?

Well, it would be a higher monthly sales figure than any month the 360 had in the US pre-Gears of War. Individually I wouldn't have ever have called any of those months 'good' for MS' part, but if the grinding that greats my virtual 'ears' each day is news of PS3's "failure..." and assuming in contrast that 360 is viewed as a "success," then yes in this new world paradigm I would view 300k as 'great.' ;)

Has it? I thought GC had comparable numbers in it's first year? (not sure, so correct me if I'm wrong)

Yeah, I think it has. On several levels I see the Wii as having attained a mindshare that went beyond GC, regardless of the marketshare developments up through this point. And I was a big GC fan, so don't get me wrong... I had females and other such 'non gamers' on Super Smash and EyeToy for quite some time, but nonetheless with Wii, it's the first time I've heard them express interest in *their own* purchase of a console.

Anyway, it's neither here nor there...
 
Well, it would be a higher monthly sales figure than any month the 360 had in the US pre-Gears of War.

Ok, but ignoring the fact that 360 was supply limited still at this point last year due to their world wide launch, when did MS's sales become the benchmark for Sony?
 
I think Japan is almost a lost cause for Sony without a new FF. They are already selling ps3 for the same price as ps2 when it launched there (~$400) and the populous is almost rejecting the console.
Actually that limited sale for the 20GB model at a particular discount store chain (Don Quixote) flew away in a day or two which shows there's demand. But software is still scarce, as I wrote before I expect Gundam Musou on March 1 can move some units.
 
Ok, but ignoring the fact that 360 was supply limited still at this point last year due to their world wide launch, when did MS's sales become the benchmark for Sony?

[ponders] hmm ... I think it was after the msrp for ps3 was announced. Yeah ... Right around e3 if I remember correctly.;)
 
Actually that limited sale for the 20GB model at a particular discount store chain (Don Quixote) flew away in a day or two which shows there's demand. But software is still scarce, as I wrote before I expect Gundam Musou on March 1 can move some units.

Thanks for the insight One! So all the models available on store shelves are the 60gb model not the 20gb one correct?
 
Ok, but ignoring the fact that 360 was supply limited still at this point last year due to their world wide launch, when did MS's sales become the benchmark for Sony?

I can't really say anything beyond what I already did though. I agree, at this time last year 360 *was* supply constrained. But like I said, 300k would be more than most every month in which it wasn't constrained as well.

I'm not trying to set up any 360/PS3 sales comparisons save to hopefully put all of this "PS3 should be selling better" stuff behind us. If PS3 sells 300k in Jan... or 500k as ChefO is guessing... well I mean, one can't reasonably expect better than that with no games, a ~$600 price, and 95% negative press coverage. To me, that's good sales - or good enough at least that I hope we'll see fewer 'PS3 is Doomed' type posts. ;)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I think Sony was expecting a lot more. Didn't some Sony exec say they could sell the first 5M units without any software simply due to brand name? I don't think it was an unreasonable expectation, and I even believed it myself.
 
Well, I think that Sony *will* sell the first 5 million without any software (so to speak)... but I know what you mean. :p

In that sense, I think things would be going better right now for Sony if the launch wasn't characterized by such massive market distortions as the near 100%-scalper purchase and resale of the launch allotment; this led both to the perception of no availability in stores *and* the perception that desirability had ceased to be once these same scalpers began returning units and/or consumers refused to go on eBay, even at competetive pricing.

I'm of the mind that in the US and Canada sales are at a sort of ideal stage right now in terms of demand/supply; PS3's can be found, but stocks don't stay around so long that shipments aren't received regularly.

What it all comes down to is several reports giving the impression that PS3's are 'gathering dust.' When the NPD numbers for Jan come out, we'll have a better idea of just how dusty (or not) things actually are.
 
So all the models available on store shelves are the 60gb model not the 20gb one correct?
What do you mean exactly? Both models are available on store shelves, but the particular sale which you mentioned (PS2 price) was only for the 20GB model. BTW, you wrote "$400" but the retail price for the 20GB model is 49,800 yen (=$412.70) already and the sale price for the 20GB model at Don Quixote was 39,800 yen (the same as the launch price of PS2) (=$329.83) so it's $329 sale actually.

According to a price comparison site in Japan as of today

60GB (59,900 yen) (= $496.19) -> the cheapest shop = 55,369 yen (= $458.66)
http://kakaku.com/item/20504010112/
20GB (49,980 yen) (= $414.02) -> the cheapest shop = 46,000 yen (= $381.05)
http://kakaku.com/item/20504010084/

so both models get up to 4,000 yen ($33.13) price cut at certain places though major stores are still selling at the retail price.
 
What do you mean exactly? Both models are available on store shelves, but the particular sale which you mentioned (PS2 price) was only for the 20GB model. BTW, you wrote "$400" but the retail price for the 20GB model is 49,800 yen (=$412.70) already and the sale price for the 20GB model at Don Quixote was 39,800 yen (the same as the launch price of PS2) (=$329.83) so it's $329 sale actually.

According to a price comparison site in Japan as of today

60GB (59,900 yen) (= $496.19) -> the cheapest shop = 55,369 yen (= $458.66)
http://kakaku.com/item/20504010112/
20GB (49,980 yen) (= $414.02) -> the cheapest shop = 46,000 yen (= $381.05)
http://kakaku.com/item/20504010084/

so both models get up to 4,000 yen ($33.13) price cut at certain places though major stores are still selling at the retail price.

Interesting, I remember at the time ps2 launched in Japan, the yen to dollar conversion rate had ps2 priced at around $400. Perhaps I'm mistaken and this was Playstation1?

Those prices are still dirt cheap!
 
ChefO you need to think in terms of yen instead of dollars; exchange rates change all the time.
 
Microsoft is being incredibly stupid by being so lax with a price drop right now. If PS3 is already on sale in some instances for a low as $329 in Japan, I see a price drop in America within there reach. And the thing is, once they hit a mass market price (399 and below) people aren't going to care to save $100 by getting a 360. So yeah 360 will always be cheaper, but at some price it probably stops mattering.

PS3 is like a pie in the sky now, but once it gets to 399 it becomes attainable, and people wont buy a 299 Xbox instead.

There's like different price levels in my mind. $200-$400 is like, luxury purchase level. >400 is like, ridiculous level, that few will buy. $149 and below is true mass market impulse purchase territory.

As long as you're in one of those level, I dont think it actually matter that much what your price is. 399 is not going to be treated that different by a consumer than 299. It's not until you hit 149 that price again becomes a really huge factor.

I know a guy that owns a Gamecube, very little is released on that anymore. But with two kids there's no way his wife will let him get a 360. So he considers a PS2. It has a much wider variety of games (than his Gamecube) while basically being dirt cheap. That is the basic market dynamic that is driving solid PS2 saes right now, and it's all about price. $400 is out of the question for a lot of people.
 
Microsoft is being incredibly stupid by being so lax with a price drop right now. If PS3 is already on sale in some instances for a low as $329 in Japan, I see a price drop in America within there reach. And the thing is, once they hit a mass market price (399 and below) people aren't going to care to save $100 by getting a 360. So yeah 360 will always be cheaper, but at some price it probably stops mattering.

PS3 is like a pie in the sky now, but once it gets to 399 it becomes attainable, and people wont buy a 299 Xbox instead.

There's like different price levels in my mind. $200-$400 is like, luxury purchase level. >400 is like, ridiculous level, that few will buy. $149 and below is true mass market impulse purchase territory.

As long as you're in one of those level, I dont think it actually matter that much what your price is. 399 is not going to be treated that different by a consumer than 299. It's not until you hit 149 that price again becomes a really huge factor.

I know a guy that owns a Gamecube, very little is released on that anymore. But with two kids there's no way his wife will let him get a 360. So he considers a PS2. It has a much wider variety of games (than his Gamecube) while basically being dirt cheap. That is the basic market dynamic that is driving solid PS2 saes right now, and it's all about price. $400 is out of the question for a lot of people.

$300 is a key price
$200 is the key price.

Ps2 sold 24 million units the year they dropped to $200.
 
Interesting, I remember at the time ps2 launched in Japan, the yen to dollar conversion rate had ps2 priced at around $400.

As of Mar. 21, 2000 1$ = 106.9100 yen so it was $372 but yeah as Carl says it's changing (1$ = 120 yen now).
http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h10/Hist/dat00_ja.txt

Microsoft is being incredibly stupid by being so lax with a price drop right now.
That $329 was a rather special case, not much different from the Xmas Amazon sale of 360. If you look at Japan 360 has almost a price drop.

At the same price comparison site in Japan (kakaku.com) the Blue Dragon pack (Core + Blue Dragon) is still available on store shelves and it's 27,999 yen (= $231.78) at Amazon.
http://kakaku.com/item/20501510113/
 
As of Mar. 21, 2000 1$ = 106.9100 yen so it was $372 but yeah as Carl says it's changing (1$ = 120 yen).
http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h10/Hist/dat00_ja.txt

That $329 was a rather special case, not much different from the Xmas Amazon sale of 360. If you look at Japan 360 has almost a price drop.

At the same price comparison site in Japan (kakaku.com) the Blue Dragon pack (Core + Blue Dragon) is still available on store shelves and it's 27,999 yen (= $231.78)
http://kakaku.com/item/20501510113/

:oops: How much is Wii & DS there?
 
Feb 4th (vg charts)

Hardware:
DS_____175,500 (-11%) ____15,044,500
WII_____78,500 (-10%) _____1,521,750
PSP_____32,000 (-15%) _____5,032,750
PS2_____21,500 (-9%) _____21,996,000
PS3_____19,500 (-5%) ________642,250
XB360____6,500 (-16%) _______340,500


Top 20 software:
DS___ 451,000___ 57,655,000
PS2__ 180,500__ 116,691,750
WII___ 86,500____ 3,267,500

PS3 and 360 miss the top 20 this week and DS dominates the charts:
http://www.vgcharts.org/japweekly.php?date=39117
 
Yeah... but didn't we establish that VG Charts uses Famitsu for their Japan numbers?

I prefer MediaCreate, not that it's too big a deal one way or the other. That said though, we should be getting the US NPD numbers very shortly as well.
 
Back
Top