NPD May 2007

[cthellis42]

No games + high price = 81k , Sony must do something.

Unfortunately there's nothing TO do right now but coast it out until the fall, as there's really no impetus. A price drop out of nowhere with no huge games to take advantage of would simultaneously smack of desperation and not actually grab many people. A price drop coincided with the release of many new, exciting games, and leading into the holiday season...?

I'm hoping they're not banking on the title surge to let them retain that price point, however. They really need the boost in presence and to regain developer confidence more than the extra capital.

 

[Jesus2006]

Two questions:

1) Who the hell is buying all those PS2s?
2) What the hell is Sony thinking? Every month they are sinking further and further and every month they do nothing, seemingly resigned to grim inevitability.

1) People that are waiting for a PS3 pricedrop?
2) Actually sales figures for april and may are quite the same. Considering that there were no new games at all in these months, it's quite ok... Guess Sony waits until PS2 stops outselling Xbox 360 and will then consider a pricedrop for the PS3?

/Edit: Noone upset that 360 sales went down by some 20k units compared to april?

 

[mesyn191]

Noone upset that 360 sales went down by some 20k units compared to april?

Slow time of the year.

Please don't post if all you're going to do is troll, these threads tend to go badly enough as is...

 

[PatrickL]

http://www.thestreet.com/newsanalysis/techgames/10362733_2.html

"Most of games for Nintendo platforms were the company's titles, compared with the Xbox 360, which had games from independent publishers break the charts," said Aaron Greenberg, group product manager for Microsoft's Xbox 360.

"For the Xbox 360, we are seeing 65% of third-party sales come from third-party publishers, compared with 15% for the PS3 and 25% for the Wii," he said.

What MS games went out in may comparing to Nintendo ones ? Besides the PR, some more datas are needed before judging

 

[pipo]

MS will cut the price when they can get some synergy from it, i.e. along with Halo 3.

Finally. The voice of reason.

MS is still selling almost twice as much machines as their competitor. Do you really think they're worried?

 

[zed]

Everybody is saying this, yet isn't there another possible factor? Competition from Wii? I mean Wii is still a costly $250 system that is selling in droves, you're telling me some people aren't choosing Wii in place of 360? Nobody seems to mention this at all.

bingo.
price aint the number one factor its desirablity. at the moment ppl want a wii. (except here in nz where the wii is in last place, must be the only country in the world)
ppl say sony + ms need a pricecut, but imagine if they did, say $50-$100 for ms + $200 for sony. in the case of the xb360 bringing it equal or cheaper than a wii, guess what the market will do after the initial month surge?
status quo will be resumed, the $250 wii would still outsell a $200 or $250 xb360. now that would be a bad look for ms, u have to admit esp since the xb360 has the biggest game library so far,
WRT sony cant cut the price (they have very few games at present) if they cut the price to $400 im guessing the 80k figure would go -> 100-120k whopptedo. they need there big titles + home to ship ASAP ( and in jan if they arent selling heaps then drop the price )

my montly extrapolation ( xbox360 still leading in a years time + i cant see wii catching them this year (WRT xmas sales, due to it being supply limited) )

 

[AlphaWolf]

bingo.
price aint the number one factor its desirablity. at the moment ppl want a wii. (except here in nz where the wii is in last place, must be the only country in the world)
ppl say sony + ms need a pricecut, but imagine if they did, say $50-$100 for ms + $200 for sony. in the case of the xb360 bringing it equal or cheaper than a wii, guess what the market will do after the initial month surge?
status quo will be resumed, the $250 wii would still outsell a $200 or $250 xb360. now that would be a bad look for ms, u have to admit esp since the xb360 has the biggest game library so far,
WRT sony cant cut the price (they have very few games at present) if they cut the price to $400 im guessing the 80k figure would go -> 100-120k whopptedo. they need there big titles + home to ship ASAP ( and in jan if they arent selling heaps then drop the price )

Got any evidence to back your theory up or are you just pulling this out of your nether regions?

 

[RobertR1]

Somewhat relevant: Stringer take on the Wii and it's business model.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/c4dfbf38-1ac0-11dc-8bf0-000b5df10621.html*

"In an interview with the Financial Times, Sir Howard said rival Nintendo’s game called Wii – which is by far outselling the more expensive PlayStation – was based on a “very good business model†but he saw the two systems as “complementary and supplementaryâ€.

On a price cut:

"“Nintendo Wii has been a successful enterprise, and a very good business model, compared with ours . . . because it’s cheaper,†Mr Stringer said in a video interview. “That [price cuts] is what we are studying at the moment. That’s what we are trying to refine.â€

Sounds like the gaming division is now in some good hands with someone who seems to have a better concept of reality (numbers) than Krazy Ken.

One lesson that Sony and the other 2 can learn from this: Mass consumers do not want to play $600+ to play video games regardless of the fluff you try to sell along with it.

 

[zed]

Got any evidence to back your theory up or are you just pulling this out of your nether regions?

yep, check back in a couple or so months (ouch, low blow)

One lesson that Sony and the other 2 can learn from this: Mass consumers do not want to play $600+ to play video games regardless of the fluff you try to sell along with it.

yep i now agree, at the moment im seeing the ps3 tried to be the endall of home entertainment (but thats too advanced concept for joeblow, its like u can say but your phone can play music/mp3s also + u hear "bugger that i want a proper portable music player" ), ppl are slow to adapt

 

[iceberg187]

What MS games went out in may comparing to Nintendo ones ? Besides the PR, some more datas are needed before judging

I'm going to say that this is lifetime sales, not of the month.

 

[PatrickL]

donny2112 posted that stunning sale chart on Gaf:

If he did not make any error it is an amazing sight.

 

[pipo]

dIf he did not make any error it is an amazing sight.

It would be even more amazing with the Euro sales in it.

How about a DS version?

 

[borowki]

No games + high price = 81k , Sony must do something.

Like pulling a Sega? No point in making consoles if you can't make money off them.

 

[rabidrabbit]

From that graph it looks like PS3 actually has had a very good start, second only to Wii.
Wii reached 2 million sales in just a month!
PS3 reached 2 million sales in four months.
xbox360 reached 2 million sales in about 7 months.

The summer months are bound to be slow for all consoles, I'd be surprised if even the Wii can keep up the trend in that graph.

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

Not completely ontopic but Sega thinks the wii hype might not last to long.

Scott Steinberg:

I am a little concerned about the creative depth of the Wii pool. I'm not sure if they will top out in 2008 or 2007.

The Wii will start to look really dated in a couple years when developers get more value from the 360 and learn more and more about the PlayStation 3,

I personally dont really agree. I dont think people bought the Wii with good gfx in mind anyway and the gfx doesnt seem to hurt if you see that the average wii game looks like a mid range ps2 game and the x360 with good gfx is already out for 1.5 year however I do think the Wii will need more real games, and with good quality for it to keep going like it is because I think that will really hurt it, there hasnt come out more than half a handfull of good titles since the launch and there doesnt seem to be to much in development either.

 

[Titanio]

I personally dont really agree. I dont think people bought the Wii with good gfx in mind anyway and the gfx doesnt seem to hurt if you see that the average wii game looks like a mid range ps2 game and the x360 with good gfx is already out for 1.5 year however I do think the Wii will need more real games, and with good quality for it to keep going like it is because I think that will really hurt it, there hasnt come out more than half a handfull of good titles since the launch and there doesnt seem to be to much in development either.

I think the question is how long they can ride the wave of buzz that's out there for Wii, versus the (growing?) chorus of existing users recalling anecdotes of initial shared, unbridled joy only to find post-Wii-Sports that their system has gone relatively untouched. I don't know how common that experience is generally, but it has been the case with everyone I know who owns a Wii, and cautions about "short term appeal" seem to be increasingly raised on message boards. Of course, the ultimate response is to have sales figures thrown back in your face when you raise a point like that, but it doesn't really address the issue.

Of course, Nintendo can nip that in the bud if they get more compelling software out there that's as effective an advocate of their technology as Wii Sports was. I don't know how long they can drive things forward with just one such exemplar (said Wii Sports) and pure hype, but I guess I'm bound to be surprised by what the market does sometimes.

 

[Nesh]

Complete list:

Hardware

[NDS] 423,150
[WII] 338,278
[PS2] 187,765
[PSP] 221,120
[PS3] 81,604
[360] 155k
[GBA] 80,554
[NGC] 10,728


Software
331k NDS POKEMON DIAMOND VERSION
314k WII MARIO PARTY 8
249k PS2 SPIDER-MAN 3
238k NDS POKEMON PEARL VERSION
227k WII PLAY W/ REMOTE
217k 360 FORZA MOTORSPORT 2
184k 360 GUITAR HERO 2 W/ GUITAR
140k 360 SPIDER-MAN 3
138k 360 COMMAND & CONQUER 3: TIBERIUM WARS
131k PS2 GUITAR HERO 2 W/GUITAR

Category Performance
Category May 2006 May 2007 Increase
Video Games 548M 815M 48.7%
Video Games Hardware 191M 319M 67.2%
Console Hardware 123M 221M 79.1%
Portable Game Hardware 67M 98M 45.3%
Video Games Software 286M 381M 33.2%
Console Software 209M 274M 31.0%
Portable Game Software 77M 107M 39.2%
Video Game Accessories 72M 115M 61.3%

I for once want to see a god damn software chart sales that does not include handheld games!!!

 

[AlNom]

"For the Xbox 360, we are seeing 65% of third-party sales come from third-party publishers, compared with 15% for the PS3 and 25% for the Wii," he said.

35% for Gears of War?

I'd be interested to see statistics on people who bought online games. (XBL/Wii/PSN)

 

[crazygambit]

Finally. The voice of reason.

MS is still selling almost half as much machines as their competitor. Do you really think they're worried?

Fixed.

Yes, yes I do indeed. No matter how much PR tries to convince everyone that Wii isn't a competitor, it really is. Especially with a potential 360 pricedrop. If a Wii and the Core get priced the same for example I don't see how anyone can claim they're not competing for the same gaming dollars.

 

[scooby_dooby]

Everybody is saying this, yet isn't there another possible factor? Competition from Wii? I mean Wii is still a costly $250 system that is selling in droves, you're telling me some people aren't choosing Wii in place of 360? Nobody seems to mention this at all.

The other thing is the Elite. It's possible since Elite is still sold out that many people are waiting to get a hold of one and therefore not purchasing 360 at all. Providing more evidence of what I was afraid of, that it may become the de-facto default sku chosen by consumers and thus a price raise. Anyway you slice it, Elite just wasn't a good idea.

Nah, you're really over analyzing the situation imo.

The simplest explanation is probably the most likely.

1. $400 was a very high pricepoint to begin with, it's now been there for nearly 18 months. The pool is drying up, the fact it lasted this long is impressive in itself.

2. Wii sales did not affect 360 sales for the first 6 months of it's life, why would you attribute this drop to Wii sales now?

Anywyas, this trend has been obvious for the last 2 months, and now is undeniable. The market for a $400 console is having it's last gasps. The market for a $600 console is virtually non-existant.