Even more solid when you consider that the PS3 had to price drop to reach that number (Which sony indicated materially contributed to their loss for the quarter), while the 360 not only didn't price drop, but actually raised their average price.
Predict: top selling console of 2011
- Thread starter Shifty Geezer
- Start date
Good job overall ... but I wouldn't go tooting that horn too loudly. December numbers weren't as impressive as they should be mostly due to the fact that xb360 discount sales were done at that point and the regular price was staring folks in the face.
I'll be interested to see the numbers in the coming months ... and I'll be surprised if a pricecut isn't here by May.
BTW, good job by your marketing people with the Kinect & NFL play60 tie-in. Smart move.
I would argue that december numbers weren't as high as some people expected because they were front loaded in November. If, as you say, the result is due to sales expiring, then the 360Good job overall ... but I wouldn't go tooting that horn too loudly. December numbers weren't as impressive as they should be mostly due to the fact that xb360 discount sales were done at that point and the regular price was staring folks in the face.
I'll be interested to see the numbers in the coming months ... and I'll be surprised if a pricecut isn't here by May.
BTW, good job by your marketing people with the Kinect & NFL play60 tie-in. Smart move.
S3 ratio should have changed, with the PS3 gaining share, but that didn't happen. The ratios stayed the same at just under 2:1.As to the discounts, both sides were playing that. One PS3 bundle in Europe included 7 games.
I would be surprised if there _is_ a price cut by May, price cutting in the slowest part of the year, when folks are recovering from the holiday overspending doesn't seem like good marketing to me. I could see a summer vacation pricecut in say June, around E3, but earlier than that would surprise me.
Silent_Buddha
Legend
Looks like I was spot on. Not on total number of units shipped as I didn't even try to guess that. But that X360 would ship more by a narrow margin.
As well I was spot on with them probably not needing a price cut in order to top the PS3.
Not all retailers report sales numbers either publicly or to the various sales tracking services. Online e-tailers are less likely to report to a company like NPD than large brick and mortar chains.
So there's not only some built in error of estimating sales based on reported numbers from retail, but there's also likely a continuing shift of sales moving from retail to e-tail. The proportion of sales for each platform should stay relatively the same, but total number might be off.
Actually there isn't much to doubt. Unless things change for companies this year, virtually all companies included Australia with the EU when releasing financial statements that include region breakdown. The 3 regions you see in almost any company breakdown (for console gaming).
Japan
N.A.
EU + Australia.
Some also track Asia. But those that do usually report almost insignificant sales in Asia compared to the top 3 regions above. N.A. is generally in the 40-50% range. EU + Australia is usually 35-45%. Japan with most of the rest. And Asia with generally 1-3%.
The odd one out is S. Korea who sometimes gets lumped in with Japan, and sometimes gets lumped in with Asia. As well Australia is occasionally tracked on its own.
If not for the rampant pirating and counterfeiting (some even unofficially government protected, Just watch the 2nd episode of this seasons Top Gear), Asia would likely be larger than Japan and possibly equal or exceed the EU + Australia. And it's not just China, but most of the countries in Asia are rife with pirating and counterfeiting.
Why pay for a real Audi or Land Rover when you can buy a counterfeit one much cheaper? Likewise, why pay for a real copy of a game if you can buy a pirated copy much cheaper or download it for free?
Regards,
SB
I would argue that december numbers weren't as high as some people expected because they were front loaded in November. If, as you say, the result is due to sales expiring, then the 360
As to the discounts, both sides were playing that. One PS3 bundle in Europe included 7 games.
I would be surprised if there _is_ a price cut by May, price cutting in the slowest part of the year, when folks are recovering from the holiday overspending doesn't seem like good marketing to me. I could see a summer vacation pricecut in say June, around E3, but earlier than that would surprise me.
Even though I voted that I don't care, and in a way hoped Sony would beat you guys, congrats. The xbox brand has come a long way. Now when I hear non-gaming people talk about video games, I hear them mention "xbox" more often than not. That says something IMO.
Now we just have to be careful we don't get generalized. I have seen a number of people say things like "He's always on his xbox" to mean "He's always on his console" even when the console is not always an actual XBox. (Mostly older folks, but still)
I, of course, voted for xbox being top, but only because I've learned never to bet against Don Mattrick. I really didn't expect us to actually come out on top after the PS3 dropped it's price.
Silent_Buddha
Legend
One thing that is going to be interesting. If indeed Holiday quarter sales were lower than either company expected, I'd expect to see evidence of possible overshipping on the part of both companies. Possibly moreso with PS3 than X360 as Sony were predicting 15 million units shipped and didn't revise that down to 14 million until just recently.
It's even more telling that you now hear Xbox referring to consoles in TV and Movies more than you do Playstation. That would have been unheard of 5+ years ago.
The whole basis of my prediction was that you could already see the effects of the PS3 price cut going down after the initial month. Add to that, Kinect effect on X360 sales would be kicking in with the Holiday season and X360 was just primed to overtake.
Also I thought it helped that X360 was already ahead worldwide when you excluded Japan. And Japan region sales were less likely to get a boost during the holiday season than N.A. and the EU + Australia. In other words, Japan's effect on worldwide numbers would likely be minimalised during the Holiday Season.
Regards,
SB
It's even more telling that you now hear Xbox referring to consoles in TV and Movies more than you do Playstation. That would have been unheard of 5+ years ago.
The whole basis of my prediction was that you could already see the effects of the PS3 price cut going down after the initial month. Add to that, Kinect effect on X360 sales would be kicking in with the Holiday season and X360 was just primed to overtake.
Also I thought it helped that X360 was already ahead worldwide when you excluded Japan. And Japan region sales were less likely to get a boost during the holiday season than N.A. and the EU + Australia. In other words, Japan's effect on worldwide numbers would likely be minimalised during the Holiday Season.
Regards,
SB
That's by design ... FYI.
Good marketing teams get Xbox listed as the console mentioned in a show/movie instead of PS and use an xb360 controller and console on screen instead of PS.
/Off topic
With any luck for MS, the brand WILL get generalised.
Go to almost any country in Europe (excepting the UK) and people will use "Playstation" to mean "Game console" in the same way they use "Coke" to mean "Cola flavoured beverage"
And there's a reason why (a) Coke is still the predominant brand and seller in the world and that (b) Playstation is the predominant brand and seller in Europe.
The blip in that is the UK where "Xbox" has mostly superceeded "Playstation" as the noun defining a gaming machine.
There have been statements of the UK being "US East" where gaming is concerned. They are far more likely to follow a US trend than a Europe one, for some unknown reason.
We import a lot of US TV.
270k isn't bad for January. Not great, but not bad.
Like I said, I'll be surprised if there isn't a price cut by Summer. It's long overdue.
I'm curious to see what the breakdown is of ps3/wii for the remainder of sales in Jan.
edit-
Past jan sales for xb360 in sequential order:
250k 2006
294k
230k
309k
333k
381k
270k 2012
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In terms of vernacular, it probably doesn't hurt that "XBox" is a lot easier to say than "Playstation". One less syllable and more hard consanants.
Although you'd think by that measure that Wii would be the runnaway winner. Maybe the fact that even 5 years later the name still sounds kind of silly plays a part.
Although you'd think by that measure that Wii would be the runnaway winner. Maybe the fact that even 5 years later the name still sounds kind of silly plays a part.