SCEA announces holiday sales figures (PSP: 1.4m, PS2: 1.3m, PS3: 1.2m)

[Zassk]

Also, if I recall correctly, the 360 sold about 9 million units in 2006, in 2007 they sold about 7 million, despite halo+price drop( I believe it is possible the numbers will be smaller still for 2008).

No, they shipped 9 and 7 million. They sold 7 and 8 million, which is an improvement, not a drop. You may not like it since it contradicts your theory, but the 360 had better retail numbers in 2007 than 2006 (in all 3 markets, even Japan!).

I just don't see the trend that you are claiming. Yes, the PS3 is trending up. But so is the 360.

 

[....]

No, they shipped 9 and 7 million. They sold 7 and 8 million, which is an improvement, not a drop. You may not like it since it contradicts your theory, but the 360 had better retail numbers in 2007 than 2006 (in all 3 markets, even Japan!).

I just don't see the trend that you are claiming. Yes, the PS3 is trending up. But so is the 360.

Well it's possible(though 2 million in storehouses? Dunnoh, if that's regular in retail, but again it's possible, I'm not in the know when it comes to these things). I was only looking at the shipped numbers from end of year, ms. 17.7 and 10.4.

2 games while nice are not going to win over the public.

3 games, tekken is also exclusive and pretty big, iirc.

PS

We also have to take into account that this could be 360's last year. It is possible 720 comes out next year.

 

[quest55720]

You mean Uncharted and UT3? Never mind what the Sony group says, but do you honestly think these games are in the same caliber as MGS4, GT5 and FFXIII? Because I sure as hell don't.

Sony postion right now should be gaining market acceptence in America. And it does look that way. With 1.2 million sold from Black Friday through the end of the year they should not be worrying that the 360 has done better then them. 1.2 million has actually exceeded Patcher and most analyst predictions. As long as big publishers like EA, Ubisoft, Capcom, etc. can make a decent profit on the PS3 and support it, the PS3 should be taging along fine when the real heavy hitters come in 2008. It does have Europe in it's back.

While I didn't follow the belief of the Sony peers saying "wait for this game or price drop of 07", I do believe Sony have the right stuff coming out in 2008 that consumers are very much looking forward too.

No ratchet was the other that is 3 then with UT3.

I am not sure I would call selling less than MS did last year during the holidays with a price drop and all 3 AAA exclusives market acceptance. I would say beating the 360 in a month would be market acceptance since they are so close in price point now.

 

[one]

No, they shipped 9 and 7 million. They sold 7 and 8 million, which is an improvement, not a drop.

In Microsoft's/Sony's nomenclature shipments to retailers are called "sales". Do you mean "sold" for retail sales? If so how do we know it for 2007 at this point?

 

[Scott_Arm]

...
PS

We also have to take into account that this could be 360's last year. It is possible 720 comes out next year.

it won't happen. there is a 0.0000000000000000001% chance of that happening.

 

[....]

it won't happen. there is a 0.0000000000000000001% chance of that happening.

I would say it's higher than that. It's the time difference between 360 and xbox 1. 4 factors could influence it: a.) japan sales, b.) if blu-ray's influence on the console market is noticeable, c.) if the hardware problem on 360 is unfixable(don't know about this one, are these gone now?), d.) the wii's flawless worldwide victory and ps3 possibly taking 2nd worldwide.

 

[iceberg187]

At the end of November, Sony was at 2.44 million

Today at the Blu-Ray conference, Fox said this

http://techdigest.tv/2008/01/ces_2008_bluray.html

Now Danny Kaye is up, he's executive vice president of research and technology at Twentieth Century Fox. He's going to take us through some more numbers. There's now about half a million Blu-ray players, and roughly three million PS3s in the market. So that's about 3.5 million Blu-ray players by the end of 2007.

 

[PARANOiA]

I'd be surprised if the monthly sales gap between 360 and ps3 doesn't shrink further, if not disappears or reverses during 2008 in the US.

I wouldn't be surprised to see the PS3 outsell the 360 during 2008. Do you expect it to catch up to lifetime sales during the year though? I certainly don't.

 

[djskribbles]

none of the games released on PS3 so far are of the same caliber of games like GT5, FF, MGS, or even KZ2. its these kind of titles that sell consoles (like Halo etc). PS3's 2008 lineup is much better than 2007's, and thats a fact. GT5, possibly FF, MGS4, LBP, Resistance 2, MotorStorm 2, Tekken 6, plus pretty the majority titles from third party developers, return of rumble, Blu-Ray pretty much winning the HD format war, and a more attractive price (with possibly more price drops this year); i agree with ..., i truly think the monthly sales gap between PS3 and 360 will shrink, with the PS3 possibly even pulling ahead mid-later in the year.

 

[Platon]

You mean Uncharted and UT3? Never mind what the Sony group says, but do you honestly think these games are in the same caliber as MGS4, GT5 and FFXIII? Because I sure as hell don't.

Another issue though would be how many of those that bought the previous installments of those games did so when the consoles where at a <$200 pricepoint...

 

[iceberg187]

none of the games released on PS3 so far are of the same caliber of games like GT5, FF, MGS, or even KZ2. its these kind of titles that sell consoles (like Halo etc). PS3's 2008 lineup is much better than 2007's, and thats a fact. GT5, possibly FF, MGS4, LBP, Resistance 2, MotorStorm 2, Tekken 6, plus pretty the majority titles from third party developers, return of rumble, Blu-Ray pretty much winning the HD format war, and a more attractive price (with possibly more price drops this year); i agree with ..., i truly think the monthly sales gap between PS3 and 360 will shrink, with the PS3 possibly even pulling ahead mid-later in the year.

There is only one franchise that you named that is going to come out in 2008 that is equal to Halo and that is GT5. FF13 is 2009. Tekken is long in the tooth and will be outsold by Soul Calibur 4. Is MotorStorm even 1 million in the US? Resistance hasn't sold 1 million stateside. MGS release sales have gone down with every version. LBP is a platformer that isn't named Mario. Besides, Blu-Ray has won. PS3 is staying at $399 all year will bundles at Xmas 08. They have to make their hardware partners some money now.

 

[NovemberMike]

The problem is that a lot of those games aren't necessarily going to move systems with the casuals. MGS4 is a hardcore game; every thread about it ends up in a weird discussion about why Ocelot can channel Liquid Snake and all the other weird crap, and the game's popularity has been going down recently. Final Fantasy is big, and could mean a revival of JRPGs for the PS3, but again it is a hardcore game. LBP is a hardcore game as well.

These games have limited fan bases. Even if every person who owned MGS4 bought a PS3 and the game (assuming they didn't already have the system) that would still only be 4-5 million sales, and we have to assume that the kind of person who will buy these kinds of games might just already have a PS3.

 

[djskribbles]

Another issue though would be how many of those that bought the previous installments of those games did so when the consoles where at a <$200 pricepoint...

probably a lot. that being said, a lot of people are probably waiting until these games are released to buy their PS3's. you don't know how many times i've seen, specifically, "i'm waiting until MGS4 to buy my PS3". the same could have been said for Halo 3, but look at the boost the 360 got after that was released.

 

[Zaphod]

Well it's possible(though 2 million in storehouses? Dunnoh, if that's regular in retail, but again it's possible, I'm not in the know when it comes to these things). I was only looking at the shipped numbers from end of year, ms. 17.7 and 10.4.

Looking at MS' own numbers it's painstakingly obvious that warehouses were bulging with 360s around December 31 2006 (metaphorically, I'm guessing some of this is down to creative bookkeeping putting down contracts for future shipments as sales already having taken place). As pointed out many times previously there was clearly quite a bit of channel stuffing done by MS before Christmas last year (during Q1-2, fiscal 2007). As I said: I think they did this in part for the nice round PR number (going past 10 million in calendar '06) as well as giving them a lull in which to introduce the Elite and start transitioning to the new motherboards.

"We sold approximately 4.4 million Xbox 360 consoles during the second quarter and approximately 5.4 million Xbox 360 consoles during the first half of fiscal year 2007." -Microsoft, Quarterly Report For the Quarterly Period Ended December 31, 2006.

Couple that with:

"We shipped 6.6 million Xbox 360 consoles during fiscal year 2007 as compared to 5.0 million consoles during fiscal year 2006." -Microsoft, Annual Report For the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2007.

Thus, from January to June 2007 (Q3-4, fiscal 2007) MS shipped/sold 1.2 million units (with many of those having been Elites) worldwide during the period, which hardly even covers US retail sales (1.25 million acording to NPD). You do the math.

 

[djskribbles]

There is only one franchise that you named that is going to come out in 2008 that is equal to Halo and that is GT5. FF13 is 2009. Tekken is long in the tooth and will be outsold by Soul Calibur 4. Is MotorStorm even 1 million in the US? Resistance hasn't sold 1 million stateside. MGS release sales have gone down with every version. LBP is a platformer that isn't named Mario. Besides, Blu-Ray has won. PS3 is staying at $399 all year will bundles at Xmas 08. They have to make their hardware partners some money now.

MGS4 is pretty close... and who cares? its a very popular title, nuff said. my intentions were not to list all of Sony's titles of the same caliber of Halo... i was just saying the PS3's 2008 lineup is much better than 2007's. when did i say i was listing games of the same caliber of Halo 3? all i said were none of the titles released last year are of the same caliber as the titles i listed.
and yes both Resistance and Motorstorm sold 1m+ in NA alone. MGS sales have declined, but this is the finale on a new platform. LBP is not simply a platformer... it is completely different than anything and can appeal to everyone. how do you know there will be absolutely no price cuts until the holidays?

 

[TrungGap]

how do you know there will be absolutely no price cuts until the holidays?

I agree here, but probably not for the same reason as you. I think Sony will feel threaten by Wii, they'll be forced to lower the price to stop the onslaught of the Wii, not because of the 360. Because if you don't stop the Wii now, it will be near impossible to stop, much like the xbox vs ps2 generation, when xbox failed to stop the ps2. I think once you reach a critical mass the synergy of your friends owning a Wii/360/PS3 will compel you get one.

 

[Laa-Yosh]

Funny how people can try to explain everything.
The PS3 isn't selling well, several games that should've made an impact have failed to do so, and the 360 is doing pretty well compared to both the Xbox1 and the PS3.
And MS isn't crazy to kill off the console now that it's finally making money, they'll continue to milk it as long as they can.

Honestly, it's reality check time...

 

[iceberg187]

MGS4 is pretty close... and who cares? its a very popular title, nuff said. my intentions were not to list all of Sony's titles of the same caliber of Halo... i was just saying the PS3's 2008 lineup is much better than 2007's. when did i say i was listing games of the same caliber of Halo 3? all i said were none of the titles released last year are of the same caliber as the titles i listed.
and yes both Resistance and Motorstorm sold 1m+ in NA alone. MGS sales have declined, but this is the finale on a new platform. LBP is not simply a platformer... it is completely different than anything and can appeal to everyone. how do you know there will be absolutely no price cuts until the holidays?

I don't know Motorstorms because I've never seen it, but Resistance isn't a million seller in NA. This is from Next-Gen.biz

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8374&Itemid=2&limit=1&limitstart=5

I agree here, but probably not for the same reason as you. I think Sony will feel threaten by Wii, they'll be forced to lower the price to stop the onslaught of the Wii, not because of the 360. Because if you don't stop the Wii now, it will be near impossible to stop, much like the xbox vs ps2 generation, when xbox failed to stop the ps2. I think once you reach a critical mass the synergy of your friends owning a Wii/360/PS3 will compel you get one.

Hardware people make their money by selling hardware for a profit. How can Denon, Samsung, Pioneer, and others profit, if Sony is undercutting them and match them on price with the PS3? $399 is not going to move in 2008. They will value add and other things, but it's not going to drop.

 

[djskribbles]

I don't know Motorstorms because I've never seen it, but Resistance isn't a million seller in NA. This is from Next-Gen.biz

thats probably the US only, and as it shows, up to the end of november. so most likely, its probably around 800-900k. regardless, to repeat myself, my point was that the PS3's 2008 lineup is much better than their 2007 lineup, and thats why i listed them. theres no doubt they are one of the more popular PS3 titles.

 

[AlphaWolf]

At what point will people stop saying 'just wait for x,y and z'? If the ps3 hasn't caught up to the 360 by the end of 2008 I expect we'll hear about ff, uncharted II, some new R&C game etc. coming in 2009. At what point does it become completely ridiculous and when is it safe to say that the ps3 will never catch the 360 in NA?