Not sure of the exact date but it's in the spring, yes.
How am I contradicting myself?
Sales factors for ps1 and ps2 were much different than they are for ps3. Thus, to expect (roughly) the same result doesn't make much sense.
Worldwide Console Sales Numbers
- Thread starter B3D News
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Not sure of the exact date but it's in the spring, yes.
How am I contradicting myself?
Sales factors for ps1 and ps2 were much different than they are for ps3. Thus, to expect (roughly) the same result doesn't make much sense.
MS (+ no doubt sony) have been caught out multiple times doing illegal practices over the years (+fined), yet the entire top management hasnt been fired?
personally i dont trust any manufacturers claims, sony have claimed theyve shipped 5.5milllion ps3's 5 1/2 months ago!, so what are they today, 11million!!!!
How can you possibly see how many consoles either Sony, MS or Nintendo have shipped (whatever definition we are using) from the cash flow reports of either company? Please please please, enlighten me.
I could not find a definition of 'shipped' in MS annual reports. The closest I got was this:
" Revenue for retail packaged products, products licensed to original equipment manufacturers (“OEMâ€), and perpetual licenses for current products under our Open and Select volume licensing programs generally is recognized as products are shipped."
But then again, as Zaphod shows, I am pretty bad at finding my way around MS annual reports.
.Melchiah.
Regular
Price-
PS1 $300 ... followed by price cut to $200 (that's where that big sales spike came from btw)
PS2 $300 ... followed by price cut to $200 (that's where that big sales spike came from again, btw)
PS3 $500-600 ... I don't know when they will get to $200 ... but I imagine it may take them a bit longer to reach than PS1&2
Actually in Europe (Finland) the launch price wasn't that different;
PS2 - 499-580€ (~693-805$)
PS3 - 679-699€ (~943-970$)
The price of PS2 varied greatly depending on where it was bought. The larger supermarket chains took shamelessly advantage of the huge demand and the severe lack of supply (only 5000 units were available at launch in Finland).
You are making it reverse, PS2 was in shortage and they couldn't supply more than one market.
Sony changed their definitions around in their last quarterly. Previously, they reported 'shipped' as in shipped from factory to Sony warehouses, whereas MS 'shipped' were sold from MS to distributors.
Now, Sony is doing basically the same definition as MS. So, in fiscal '06 they 'shipped' (read: made) 5.5 million PS3s. At the same time, they had an inventory of at least 2.3 million units, so Sony warehouses aren't exactly empty. In fiscal Q1 '07, Sony sold 710K units worldwide (compared to the 360 @ 600K for the same quarter), and revised their 11 million claim to be sold units rather than shipped.
Therefore, for Sony to meet their revised target they'll have to push an additional 10.3 million units into the channel by April '08 (end of their fiscal '07). Disregarding that this is a tall order (fat chance, IMO, even with heavy channel stuffing), if Sony can manage it; they'll have successfully 'hidden' the overstock of at least 2.3 million units from fiscal '06 that were only 'shipped' rather than sold.
At first glance it might even look as if they've actually increased their fiscal '06 plus '07 total as the definition of sold is tighter than the shipped one. No lying involved, but not exactly intellectually honest. The slight intellectual dishonesty goes for MS as well, as they're not exactly putting the fact that they shipped/sold only 600K each of the last quarters front and center when just glancing at their stated numbers.
DuckThor Evil
Legend
True if the topic is Sony's ability to ship Playstation consoles during early years of the machine's life, but if the topic is (and what I was talking about) Demand of the different Playstation models during their early years, then my model gives a much better picture. There is also a HUGE difference between shipped and sold ratios between PS2 and PS3 figures.
The produced or shipped figure is not very meaningful in this comparison, but if it's used, then it should be used accurately using similar timeframes from all the regions.
By using the the fy 99 and 2000 for PS2 shipments you only get 5 months when the console was out in all major territories plus six months in Japan, Needless to say that they probably didn't start the manufacturing too long before the March Japanese release date, so basically the fy 99 goes to waste there.
By using fy 06 and 07 for PS3 shipments you get one full year in the three major markets + four months in Japan and NA.
You think it makes any sense to compare the shipped fy 99 and 00 to 06 and 07 fiscal years if the console's demand is being discussed? I don't think it makes much sense. PS3 numbers can be seen to be better than what they are by doing this, but it's totally wrong way to look at this.
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Yes, but in the early months the PS3 was supply limited as well. Does that mean it would have sold much, much more if it hadn't? Probably not. The point is that the price is an important factor, and we'll have to see how demand and price are matched.
PS3 needs good games to boost demand, and then a pricecut to fuel that demand and reach a large audience. But it only needs to match this to production capacity. They have been out for 11 months now, and theoretically they could have made 11 milion consoles. I don't know if they have, but if they did make that many, then they'll have to sell them. Let's say they sold about 4 million, and will sell 2-3 more in the last few months of the year (across all regions). Then the surplus stock they have is still a few million, minus what they sell in sept/okt (not a whole lot probably, though you never know with the soccer games being released in Europe). That's still a big surplus and it's becoming increasingly unlikely that they can sell the whole lot for full price.
What I am guessing is that they slowed down production considerably and are using the lull for reducing costs and improving the factory line, just as I'm sure Microsoft has been doing in the first half of 2007 when they too had a very 'comfortable' stock.
The question remains how software is going to change things, but it is also clear that they'll need to reduce price. I'm not worried about the software at this point, with plenty of good stuff coming out now and the next months, so the major question that remains is getting the cost of the machine down. If they manage to do so (to say, 399, which I think is a good target to hit for Christmas), then we can see how that matches demand.
The extra cash that Sony has been known to get into gear could in that respect just as well be to compensate for having to sell surplus stock of PS3s that were built while the PS3 was more expensive to make.
Having said all that, above all, I expect console gaming to grow considerably over this generation. Perhaps the biggest absolute growth ever.
PS3 needs good games to boost demand, and then a pricecut to fuel that demand and reach a large audience. But it only needs to match this to production capacity. They have been out for 11 months now, and theoretically they could have made 11 milion consoles. I don't know if they have, but if they did make that many, then they'll have to sell them.
Let's say they sold about 4 million, and will sell 2-3 more in the last few months of the year (across all regions). Then the surplus stock they have is still a few million, minus what they sell in sept/okt (not a whole lot probably, though you never know with the soccer games being released in Europe). That's still a big surplus and it's becoming increasingly unlikely that they can sell the whole lot for full price. What I am guessing is that they slowed down production considerably and are using the lull for reducing costs and improving the factory line, just as I'm sure Microsoft has been doing in the first half of 2007 when they too had a very 'comfortable' stock.
The question remains how software is going to change things, but it is also clear that they'll need to reduce price. I'm not worried about the software at this point, with plenty of good stuff coming out now and the next months, so the major question that remains is getting the cost of the machine down. If they manage to do so (to say, 399, which I think is a good target to hit for Christmas), then we can see how that matches demand.
The extra cash that Sony has been known to get into gear could in that respect just as well be to compensate for having to sell surplus stock of PS3s that were built while the PS3 was more expensive to make.
Having said all that, above all, I expect console gaming to grow considerably over this generation. Perhaps the biggest absolute growth ever.