July U.S. hardware sales: PSP in fifth place
by Chris Powell 
{ Aug 14th 2006 at 9:01AM }
The past month hasn't been too kind to the PSP, especially in Japan, but now that July's US hardware sales numbers have poured in, we can see assess the damage. The Gameboy Advance outsold the PSP by 2,000 units. Yeesh.
While the PSP sold less than half of the Nintendo DS, it sure beat the hell outta the Xbox and Gamecube, right? Here's all the numbers:
- DS: 377,000
- PS2: 241,000
- 360: 206,000
- GBA: 163,000
- PSP: 161,000
- GCN: 44,000
- Xbox: 12,000
While things aren't looking too good for the PSP right now, I believe things will begin to pick up once the next round of games start hitting the handheld. There are so many great games on the horizon, that I think the PSP will begin to rival the DS again.
[Via 1up]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
VJ @ Aug 14th 2006 9:43AM
Well, the PSP could catch upto the DS but its gonna take a real turn around. Not that the PSP is doing badly mind you, 21 million units shipped now, they expect 32million by next march.
Plus you cant argue with the PSPs future line up:
Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
Silent Hill: Origins
Jeanne d’Arc
Killzone: Liberation
Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception
Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner
Devil May Cry: Dance of Sparda
Gran Turismo: Mobile
Team ICO Project
Dungeons & Dragons: Tactics
Ultimate Ghosts n Goblins
Earthworm Jim
Bounty Hounds
Every Extend Extra
Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters
David Jaffe/Incognito Project
Loco Roco
And those are just the ones I want!
Joel @ Aug 14th 2006 10:40AM
We'll just have to sit, and wait....sit and wait...
Loban @ Aug 14th 2006 11:12AM
Just wait until FFIII and Zelda: Phantom Hourglass come out for the DS. And let the PSP beating begin again.
pixelator @ Aug 14th 2006 11:53AM
I don't know if the PSP will overtake the DS this holiday season with its lineup and possible price reduction, but I do know NPD isn't the ultimate in reliability, excluding many online and B&M retail outlets like Wal-Mart and others. In the past, NPD figures have been retracted, and they did cite the PSP as the overall sales leader last December (USA).
Anyway, from most sources it seems the PSP market performance seems to be holding fairly steady without any real drop, or big surge. I just don't think the overall installed base between the two is insurmountable if, say, Sony stages a comeback (like the DS did when the PSP was outselling it in 2005 and part of 2006 in the USA).
I will say this, barring a PSP2 in 2007 and/or fresh influx of games or some radical move by Sony & devs, this Christmas is probably the last chance the PSP has to match or exceed the DS. Not that I think it HAS to do that to continue on and be considered an overall success for Sony.
I,Robot @ Aug 14th 2006 5:16PM
Pixelator, look I’m not trying to start-in with you, because it’s quite obvious that you LOVE the PSP. But… don’t you think its kind of odd that Sony would bring out ANOTHER PSP so soon, and before the first one as taken off? That is a legitimate question that anyone would ask?
PSP is just over a year old, why are they making a PSP2? No... I mean seriously? Doesn’t that strike you as odd? It’s almost as if… there’s something wrong with the first one, something that CANNOT be fixed with a firmware upgrade. Something that they missed or over looked? Something so bad, it scared them enough -- to quickly releasing another model with only minor changes and a fresh coat of paint? Because this is NOT like Sony at all…
HitemUp @ Aug 14th 2006 8:11PM
Kinda like how Nintendo had the DS and then dropped a DS Light on you? Improve all the crap they did wrong on the first one, make it smaller, improve the screen. You know....
I,Robot @ Aug 14th 2006 11:21PM
Yes, but the difference here is that Nintendo has been making “Gameboy” for 20 years at lease, and the process has never really changed. It does the exact same thing it ALWAYS did. Just play games. At this point, they are ONLY doing it for the money, to make them smaller, cuter and pink. I will fully admit that Nintendo is a bunch of whores… No question.
The PSP is still a baby, still fresh with that new car smell. What people want is games, myself included (because I own one). Something different, but instead of working on what’s important, they seem more concerned about putting GPS and a Camera on the next one? You guys don’t find that odd in the slightest?
As Sony Fanboys, wouldn’t you want to see a hard drive in the next one? That would be the MOST IMPORTANT thing that v2.0 SHOULD have! (An 8 or 10GB – something useful) A better OS, with faster load times, WIFI, Internet browser, IM, and most definitely a higher capacity for memory cards, Preferable CF so you could a micro drive instead. You can get about 1 good quality movie and 1 30min TV show on a 2GB Memory stick -- which make the MS completely pointless and obsolete. Open UMDs up by making a DRIVE for it. Make room for Homebrews and hacks.
These would be the changes I would REALLY like to see – than the PSP would fly out the door. Seriously – you wouldn’t be able to keep them in stock, and these numbers would be completely different.
Andrew Yoon @ Aug 14th 2006 11:56PM
I,Robot, let's forget that while Nintendo wants to make money, so does Sony... In fact, companies usually do the things they do in order to make money. Never forget that.
pixelator @ Aug 15th 2006 2:44AM
I Robot, 'I'm not going to start in with you, because it's obvious you LOVE the DS'. After all, it's somehow not OK that Sony might release a revised PSP 'so soon after the first' but super-keen that the DS Lite has already reached the market, perhaps to the chagrin of some recent Phat buyers.
But seriously folks, I enjoy both my PSP and DS Lite. Maybe not equally all the time, but then, I don't feel the need to trot out the last 20 some years of playing and collecting video games to show you I'm not especially partial to Sony or their products. I just know what I like. In fact, I'd take a Vectrex over just about anything, or a Virtual Boy, if they'd made a few decent games for it.
Much as I'd love to argue the merits of a revised PSP vs. a revised DS (Lite) and the double standard you seem to be fostering, I'm stopped by your facts being in disarray: The PSP already has a web browser that works, already has WiFi and you can most definitely fit more than one well converted movie and one 30m show on a 2GB card.
The idea that Sony should open their hardware and OS to hacking and piracy is shortsighted. I enjoy homebrew as much as the next geek and also wish I could burn UMDs, but this is in their interests AND those of developers. If Sony said 'screw the devs, let's let people hack & pirate everything' you think publishers would rush to develop for the PSP?
I,Robot @ Aug 15th 2006 4:25PM
So everyone that wants to do dev or homebrew is an automatic pirate? Is that a fair assessment of the buying public? So, because I expect Sony to live-up to there end of SUPPORT for the PSP, and also expect them to advance the next PSP technology to MORE THEN a just a f_cking camera – I MUST BE BIAS, with my facts all wrong! Where exactly is the LOGIC in that reasoning? You sound as bad as the RIAA.
Well… whatever… it really doesn’t matter what I think or what YOU think, because Sony’s numbers speak for themselves… Don’t they? So apparently I’m not alone.
pixelator @ Aug 15th 2006 5:23PM
When you have a plan that allows homebrew and open app development on the PSP without at the same time opening the door to piracy, PLEASE let Sony (and the rest of us) know!
Is it a fair assessment? Well, didn't a recent JQ poll show that piracy was #2 when asked 'how do you play your games'?
http://www.joystiq.com/2006/08/14/poll-results-the-way-you-play-your-games/
What kind of Sony support do you feel we're not getting? The firmwares are offering all kinds of new functionality. Do you not recall that since the PSP shipped, we've gotten integrated web browsing, RSS, themes, downloadable demos, Flash, support for WMA/TIFF/GIF/PNG/BMP formats, not to mention other refinements/upgrades of the UI?
I agree 100% that Sony needs to do MORE. But does restricting homebrew qualify as lack of support when you can't separate the homebrew from the piracy? Nintendo has been even MORE oppressive in their pursuit of flash linkers and emulators.
On the new PSP, whether it's a PSP "2" or a 'running change' like the DS Lite, I too would like to see some of these changes take place: Support for a keyboard or integration of one, maybe a second analog stick, perhaps the rumored 4GB of internal flash (but not a battery sucking HD, the tech isn't quite there). All sorts of possibilities - maybe Sony will come through, maybe not.
Meanwhile, I just enjoy the games and other aspects of my current PSP. *shrug*