Holiday sales numbers wrap-up
by Nick Doerr 
{ Jan 3rd 2007 at 10:30AM }
For the month of December (well, November 25th to December 25th), 4.55 million next-gen consoles moved from retailers to the hands of eager consumers. That's a lot of gaming for one month, but the important part is the breakdown of those consoles -- and we regret to inform that the PS3 is not the top-seller. Even though people are seeing the consoles sitting around in their local stores, claiming thus a decreased demand, I've still yet to see one in a store. The XBox 360 took the top spot, selling 2 million units. This can probably be attributed to the earlier release of Gears of War and the "I want it now!" attitude of the Microsoft alpha-male demographic. Next came the family friendly Wii, knocking out 1.8 million units, despite being just as hard, if not harder, to find than the PS3. That leaves 750,000 units rolled out for the PS3. Not bad, considering these numbers are solely for the United States, solely for a one-month period. Seriously, think about it. Sony delivered 750,000 units, at least, in one month on top of the few weeks of release prior to these numbers. Personally, I'd say that's a promising number. It shows that Sony has 1) increased production as promised and 2) are selling about the same amount they deliver. You can look narrowly at the numbers and say "liek Sony iz tota11y l0sing u n00bz", or you can think about it my way. Which is way more awesomer...est. Awesomerest. What do you guys think? Is the low number of units sold (comparatively) a slap to Sony's face, or does it mean they're giving us more units than we thought and they're selling pretty much what they dish out? Think about it!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Frosty22 @ Jan 3rd 2007 11:07AM
Well I would agree with you if I was not one of those people that saw dozens of PS3's stacked up with nobody noticing them in Best Buy this last Sunday. In their ad, it said if you got there early they would give you a red ticket that you could redeem for one of their 25 ps3s in stock that day. Apparantly like 3 people got their to get a red ticket, as when I got there at noon there was a stack of at least 20 ps3s collecting dust in the middle of the gaming aisle. And I live in a very affluent area. Does not look good. Luckily I'm sure Japan is gobbling them up... as it is not selling here.
Richard @ Jan 3rd 2007 11:01AM
The PS3 is a very strong console, no matter what people say. I am not a PS3 fanboy, but I am a Wii fanboy. But I trust that the PS3, Wii and 360 will sell like hotcakes for a very long time. We can only determine exactly who has won the war when Demand is lower than Supply, currently demand is higher than supply, and demand cannot be easily measured. I think the Wii will win, but the PS3 is a very strong console and I wait to see who comes top.
(This is what you call friendly competition....)
Richard @ Jan 3rd 2007 11:23AM
Japan has a very short supply as we all know. They do have a very very strong Playstation user base, so when they get those consoles they will buy them.
In Europe Sony has a very strong user base also, the PS3 is also not released there yet either.
I think the reason that there are PS3's are still on the shelves are not because of the consoles strength, its because of marketing. I havn't even seen a single PS3 advert ANYWHERE. But there are Wii adverts on all the time especially on the major channels.
Also the Wii hype is so extreme at the moment, that when that dies down I am sure that more PS3's will sell.
But I still think the PS3 won't win the war.
jsn @ Jan 3rd 2007 12:38PM
"This can probably be attributed to the earlier release of Gears of War and the "I want it now!" attitude of the Microsoft alpha-male demographic."
please, I think the PS3 crowd represents this demographic far more than the xbox crowd does. Shelling out $600+ for a console with ONE decent exclusive game screams "I want it now!!!".
And yes, #2 has it right. I found them readily available at both Costco and Gamestop. Once they have games available that are worth a crap, I'm sure the sales will pick up, but right now the truth is that they aren't a Hawt Itam anymore. Why do you think exclusive devs are jumping ship?
Nick @ Jan 4th 2007 9:12AM
Just because a store has 20 PS3's stacked up half way throug hthe day they they were put out does not indicate that they are not selling. The fact is, all those PS3's will be gone before the store will get another shipment of them in. Even though people are not waiting in line any more does not mean that the item is still not sold out.
josh @ Jan 3rd 2007 12:05PM
im simply not buying a ps3 until the $599 unit decreases in price to $399. Its that simple. I refuse to pay more to get less.
alienclay @ Jan 3rd 2007 12:18PM
if only sony had fixed the production issues a month and a half ago, they might have been able to grab more of the holiday rush, and stave off those pesky ebay scalpers. that and having a wider genre spread (*cough* heavenly sword)would have helped tons.
terry alexander @ Jan 3rd 2007 12:45PM
There are two 60 gig PS3's sitting at my walmart now. I was suprised no one picked them up yet. The two units have been there for about two weeks. I've been looking but really don't see a a reason to buy one right now.
KilgoreTrout XL @ Jan 3rd 2007 1:36PM
Nick, That alpha-male comment hurt my feelings.
We're people too. ;)
Riley @ Jan 3rd 2007 12:48PM
FYI, the numbers you are quoting are ESTIMATES for November + December.
Richard @ Jan 3rd 2007 2:13PM
To buy one now is different to buying one later, the current games dont reflect the potential opportunities of future games so those are really very crap reasons to say that the PS3 won't sell.
Ben K @ Jan 3rd 2007 3:21PM
The Circuit City where I, unfortunatly, work has 5 in stock. Down from the 7 we got in on the 26th. A quick run down of about 3 Best Buys in the area (I was searching for a Nintendo DS) showed that most had half to almost all of their PS3s still in stock, and one Best Buy waaaay out in the boonies had only sold 1 unit.
SuicideNinja @ Jan 3rd 2007 2:29PM
"You can look narrowly at the numbers and say "liek Sony iz tota11y l0sing u n00bz", or you can think about it my way. Which is way more awesomer...est. Awesomerest."
I know that was joke, but don't ever feel the need to defend yourself. I'm highly critical of Sony's...well...everything, but if you have something to say positively, then anyone who argues in miscellaneous caps and replaces letters with numbers is a known idiot. Defense not necessary.
There are PS3's sitting around not being purchased. It's because of the price. The catch 22 is this:
More people will buy them when the price goes down. But for the price to go down, more people need to buy them.
The latter won't come until there is more reasons to buy the console (in other words, the good exclusives come out). I actually am surprised they are doing as well as they are at the moment.
FrankTheCrank @ Jan 3rd 2007 2:02PM
Why would it surprise anyone that their are $600 consoles sitting in stores?
Why is that so hard to imagine?
Pricing is way off on this. That's the problem with the consoles. And the lack of games.
At $499 and $599, it's not exactly mass market. Your going to have your early adopters first...then at some point, that market is going to be depleted...then production costs are stabilized, they drop the price...then those folks jump in...this is how it goes.
Average Joe is not going to spend $600 bucks on a console. It's just not going to happen. Not until the price comes down. This is just a fact.
Look at how successful the Wii has been. If the Wii were priced at $599, it wouldn't be as popular as it has been.
I got my PS3...I'm happy. Now we just have to be patient and wait for some more games. That's all. Calm down people. Take your (insert name of favorite sedative here).
Jay-C @ Jan 3rd 2007 3:28PM
I think Wii is a very innovative and interesting console. And, I have to say Wii is really a successful console. But, seriously PS3 really has a lot of potential, which really needs a long time to explore... and of course patience... It is a long term console. I think with time we can see the success of PS3, as successful (or even more) than Wii and XBox360. The problem is, are the gamers and developers that patient?
MmhmBeer @ Jan 3rd 2007 2:26PM
Yesterday at the EB games in Meadville PA there was 15 60 gig PS3's that they have had since before New Years and not one of them has sold. The manager said that I was the first person to buy a game or controller in 2 and a half weeks (as I prepaid for Motorstorm). He said that Wii's and 360's were flying off the shelves however, could this be the console race where things turn around, due to the steep price of the PS3?
Will @ Jan 3rd 2007 2:30PM
Is it possible for you to simply post the news without adding Microsoft and Nintendo cuts? Probably not, I forgot the name of this website. Regardless, as one poster already said, you will never know what sales will be until demand falls below supply. Until then, this discussion is rather pointless don't you think?
Scott Krueger @ Jan 3rd 2007 2:46PM
The PS3 is $499 for a console that gives you more than the 360 Premium at $399 Offers.
If you don't need a Blu-Ray Player then it is a $100 more for close to the same thing. But it is not $600. The $600 Version is Not comparable to anything other than a 360 Premium with a HD-DVD attachment ($399 + $199 = $598).
Still have yet to see 1 single PS3 sitting on the Shelf, liars.
BklynKid @ Jan 3rd 2007 2:57PM
#11, awww... poor thing, you're in denial.
Colin @ Jan 3rd 2007 3:30PM
BklynKid:
I haven't seen any sitting on a shelf either. In fact, last week I say ebgames unbox 5 and watched them sell out in under a minute.
I'm sure they're sitting around now (I mean they are 600 bucks, holiday rush is dying down, and Sony has been good about meeting demand). But I think its also largely where you live in the states. I live in Seattle, which is the videogame mecca of the world, so there is probably unusually high demand here.
But don't write off the fact that people ARE still buying PS3s, and at a quick rate. Don't believe me? Try to buy one online. Amazon.com, gamestop, bestbuy.com. No place will sell one. On ebay, they're still selling for a premium (albiet small - but some are still selling for 800-900).
If people REALLY weren't buying them, they'd have a glut online and ebay prices would be 599 or lower. Obviously that has happened, and obviously PS3 demand hasn't been met yet.
So, can't resist:
"aww, who's in denial now?"
;)
-Colin
Targethasthem @ Jan 3rd 2007 3:29PM
Target in Lake Stevens, WA had 12 of them as of yesterday at 6:30pm. They are definably, "sitting on the shelves."
BklynKid @ Jan 3rd 2007 4:24PM
Well he just sounded kind of whiney. Anyway, I'm not disputing the fact that they are selling but even the biggest Sony fanboy can't deny that they would be selling better if the price was right. $600 is just too much for the average consumer to pay, especially after they find out that there is really only one good exclusive right now.
Brian James @ Jan 4th 2007 1:28AM
UPDATE:
THE NUMBERS ARE BASELESS
http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/03/holiday-2006-console-sales-figures-erroneous/
Richard @ Jan 3rd 2007 4:55PM
You should know very well that the current price is in fact very very good, for what it is (prooved by the very fact that Sony is making a LOSS on it), its just an expensive piece of equipment.
TC @ Jan 3rd 2007 5:17PM
Colin, I don't think anyone is trying to say that demand for PS3 is non-existent or even that demand is extremely low. Clearly as you stated above there is demand for the system. I would have already bought one if not for the scaler issue my older HD set only does 1080i.
I think the interesting point is comparing PS3 demand to Wii demand and XBox 360 demand last year. Wii currently, and 360 last year, maintained their high mark ups on ebay for longer than the the PS3 has. I personally came across across 10 PS3's at Best Buy, 3 at Target, and 1 at Wal-Mart while searching for a Wii for my step son this weekend, I never found a Wii. I live in a suburb of Atlanta. I did not find my 360 until February last year. Demand for the PS3 does appear to be lagging behind the demand for similar products at the same point in their product life cycle.
I think the reason for the relatively low demand for PS3 is three fold, one is the scaler issue, two is the software library, and third is the console is so far above the price elasiticy point for consoles in the US. The scaler issue really hits early adopters, I think the target market for the PS3 impressive AV capabilities, and thus has a larger affect than it proportional number of HD equipped households would indicate.
For those that don't know a products elasticity is how resitant it is to demand reductions from price increases. For example, medicine is very inelastic. You really have to increase price before demand falls. I think the X-Box 360 and the PS3 are selling slower than expected because they both are above $300. The Core 360 is so crippled I don't include it, as fear of buyers remorse greatly reduces demand for that SKU and drives buyers to the $400 SKU. Some examples of other consoles that sold above $300, Saturn & 3D0, both saw reduced demand relative to competitors. The Wii is below the elasticity point, as such it is not having demand artifically suppressed by high price, and most people that do want the product are willing to make a purchase at $250. Conversely their are people that do want a PS3 but are simply unwilling to pay $500, people that don't have the proper TV to fully enjoy the system (Me), and people that do not see a game worth playing (I thought resitance was worth the price). These last two will be corrected by a likely firmware upgrade and by future game releases. However, I fear that PS3 price point is so high that though demand may exist it will be suppressed by price. Further complicating this picture for Sony will be if the product really just starts to sit on shelves and retailers start to carry inventory costs. You can carry two Wii's for every PS3. If Wii turns remain high and PS3 turns are slower and more costly Sony may see factory orders reduced below expectations. This could reduce economies of scale and further limit Sony's ability to lower price. I really want Sony to be competitive this time. I also really want MS to be succesful. Nintendo has kind of bowed out of the race for the hardcore and is serving a different, and apparently very profitiable, market. Anyone that is hoping for a dominant player does not understand economics. Competition is why we have the amazing systems we do. Just look at Sony Trintron TV's from a few years ago or Windows if you want to see what kind of products a truly dominant player puts out. Thank goodness for Samsung and others and Apple for pushing Sony and MS to improve their products. Competition benefits us the end consumers. Clear winners to console wars only benefit that companies share holders wallets.
hi @ Jan 3rd 2007 6:48PM
I'm sorry but a system with wi-fi internet, a blu-ray player, and can play in HD; $600 is not bad at all. a freaking blu-ray player by itself costs $1000! wtf?
mechajeff @ Jan 3rd 2007 7:11PM
This shows that people are not holding off buying the 360 in anticipation of the P$3 and should be a good sign for M$. Consumer anticipation helped kill off the Dreamcast as they waited for the P$2 to arrive.
Ray @ Jan 3rd 2007 10:30PM
16.Still have yet to see 1 single PS3 sitting on the Shelf, liars
Middletown, NY 10940
Target 1 60GB on shelf
Best Buy 4 60GB 2 20GB
Toys R Us 6 60 GB
J-Mal @ Jan 4th 2007 8:56AM
For all of you PS3 Fanboys check Bestbuy.com they have been selling the "In Stock" PS3 for about two days now. My best buy still has about 20 60G sitting on the shelf.
James Ward @ Jan 5th 2007 4:33AM
How is Seattle the Video Game Mecca of the World???? Sure, Seattle is known for a few things, the start of Grunge, Starbucks, Rain and Crap Sports Teams. But Video Game Mecca of the World??? I think that is the most amusing statement I've read on PS3fanboy, and believe me, there are plenty of amusing comments to compare to!
harrisk954 @ Jan 6th 2007 10:44AM
The reason that there are PS3s available now at some of these stores is for a variety of reasons: 1)most people don't even realize that In many people's minds the PS3 is unavailable and, thus, they are not looking for it. 2) Sony had unfortunate timing. They were about 3 weeks late on getting supply out to the stores. Many people have already spent money on the holidays and don't have any more discretionary dollars to spend! Plus, a lot of parents who wanted to get their kids a PS3, when they couldn't find them, got the 360 and don't want to shell out more money now and 3) I think that the real test will be over the course of the next year (when people will be buying consoles for birthdays, anniversaries, etc.) and into NEXT holiday season, when there is an ample supply of PS3s, Wiis and 360s. Then there will be ample consoles and titles available for all of the systems.