PlayStation 3 hardware sales plummet 82 per cent

[Spartan_X]

PlayStation 3 hardware sales plummet 82 per cent

Matt Martin 15:55 (BST) 03/04/2007

Sales down dramatically on second week of release

Sales of the PlayStation 3 have dropped dramatically on the second week of release in the UK, with official Chart Track figures revealing a fall of 82 per cent.

Chart Track data is gathered from 7000 UK retail outlets representing 90 per cent of the software market, including GAME, Gamestation, Play.com, Asda and HMV.

A spokesperson for Chart Track confirmed the figure to GamesIndustry.biz this afternoon, stating: "Yes, sales of PS3 hardware have dropped by 82 per cent."

Last week, Chart Track revealed that the PlayStation 3 had sold 165,000 units in the first two days following the launch, making it the fastest-selling home console in the UK.

"We publish the first week figures because there's such a clamour for them that we can't keep it a secret," said the spokesperson.

This week's software charts revealed that sales of the top two PlayStation 3 titles, Resistance: Fall of Man and MotorStorm, had dropped by over 60 per cent.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe declined to comment.

Source: GamesIndustry.biz

[CNSBarry]

Also, rather surprisingly Play.com have already placed PS3 games in their sale!

[Ryne]

Should be expected. Don't most console sales fall off after their initial launch? I don't know if it has been this dramatic though.

[P!P]

Should be expected. Don't most console sales fall off after their initial launch? I don't know if it has been this dramatic though.

360s were hard to find for almost a year after its launch. I don't think I saw one in stores for at least 6 months.

[Jimmy0]

Wow 82 percent, that's a lot! :o

Would have been interesting to see what a comment from Sony would have said ... but it seems that they are not giving one.

[Ryne]

360s were hard to find for almost a year after its launch. I don't think I saw one in stores for at least 6 months.

Anecdotal evidence doesn't count :p. I also thought the 360 was supply constrained as well as having a high demand?

Just looking for some numbers here :cool:

[Nicholas-c Veteran]

well i think price is the main reason, when/if it comes down then it will start to go up again i think everyone who wants one has got one but many people can be saving up for one

or awaiting delivery for one like me...

@Kreuger: i strongly agree

[MadFerIt]

Should be expected. Don't most console sales fall off after their initial launch? I don't know if it has been this dramatic though.

Never like this.. Usually drops in sales are because the company can't keep up with demand (meaning there isn't stock in stores).. But there are loads of PS3's in the U.K. still... So this isn't good at all.

I was heavily impressed with the record-breaking sales it managed to grab at launch.. But to drop off this much just seems odd.. I really hope I'm wrong and it is simply a stock issue.. But I've just heard through articles that the stock hasn't been fully sold yet.

[Huleboeren]

Yes it's true, though not constrained on purpose, the 360 was suffering heavily from poor production speed. It was in demand for a fair few months after release.

The Wii on the other hand was just a bigger hit than anyone thought. :p

*cough* and poor production quality *cough*

Anyways, did people expect it to sell at the same rate every week? :unsure:

[MadFerIt]

*cough* and poor production quality *cough*

Anyways, did people expect it to sell at the same rate every week? :unsure:

I completely agree that out-of-stock plus the natural fluctuations in sale-rates can cause exactly this..

But wasn't there still plenty of stock left over after launch? If that's the case then this 82% plummet is not good at all.

I don't live in the U.K. so I'm basing this only on what I've read in articles of course, only someone who lives there can say "Yeah you can't find one anywhere." lol.

Certainly the launch sales in the U.K. were bloody amazing, hell I was shocked myself. U.K. and other European nations get screwed more then us when it comes to console prices, yet even with the PS3 and it's even higher cost, it still managed to break records.. That's amazing. And hopefully this 82% plummet is only because there's no stock.

[Captain_Wang]

*cough* and poor production quality *cough*

Anyways, did people expect it to sell at the same rate every week? :unsure:

Good ol' Phil the optimist probably did.

[sharpy2k4]

no there definitley is stock, ive been in several games around the south coast Brighton,Portsmouth,Fareham,Southampton,Basingstoke,Guildford,Bournemouth and they still have stock from launch.

Retailers such as game,play,gameplay, have stock as you can buy online straight away rather than pre-order the next batch, so i'd say the people that wanted one got one, and now everyone else is content with the wii or 360 i suppose.

[Rodrigo]

Wow, and there's still plenty of stock. :o

[SnowMizer]

*cough* and poor production quality *cough*

Anyways, did people expect it to sell at the same rate every week? :unsure:

Spookie actually said poor production "speed" Huleboeren. :rolleyes:

To answer your question I really don't think everyone expects to see the same sales rate every week but a 82% drop is terrible. Many consumers will see this as a serious problem but loyal Sony fans will continue to stay on the sinking ship with the captain.

Edited April 3, 2007 by SnowMizer

[Nightz]

just some numbers for you guys...

total shipped to UK: 220,000

total sold in first week: 165,000

82% of 165,000 = 135,300

165,000-135,300 = 29,700 sold the week after release

165,000+29,700 = 194,700 sold total

220,000-194,700 = 25,300 left from original shipment

[Nightz]

MCV confirms the news that will send many a fanboy into a sequence of uncontrollable convulsions: The Playstation 3 has officially become the fastest-selling home console in the UK over its launch weekend. A reported 165,000 PS3 units were snatched from shelves, besting the Wii's 105,000 launch units and the Xbox 360's 70,000. The PSP still holds the top speed record (185,000 units) as a handheld, but we doubt that's the sort of caveat that will bother the folks at Sony.

With plenty of consoles left in the 220,000 strong initial shipment, it would appear that a strong supply is the key to launch victory. Will sales remain brisk in the foreseeable future? We'll find out soon enough, but until then, expect some elaborately spun responses from Sony's competitors. Perhaps UK journalists ought to return those stacks of beer to Microsoft -- then again, alcohol already seems a likely explanation for steering the Xboat to the wrong continent.

source

i got the 220,000 initial shipment and 165,000 sold figures from here. the rest of the stuff in my other post is simple math that any 7th grader can do. if you don't trust that site, you can google the figures.

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

Thread Cleaned - Re-Opened.

WHY I DELETED WHAT I DELETED

Mention Of Other Consoles. Yes. The Wii is hard to find. Normally it is fine to mention, but unfortunately, mentioning how another consoles sales are or have been has lead to issues. I deleted all comments about other console sales not because they should not have been made, but because they were used as fire for certain members. My apologies to the members who just shared their opinion.

Zero Fanboy Tolerance - For this thread, the word fanboy, wether directly used or referenced slightly or even abstractly, was not tolerated. I deleted any and all threads related to this topic.

Suggestion: Use Instant Messaging- Some of you are so willing to go back and forth and argue the same points over and over. I suggest you take it to IM and be done with it already. In a live conversation, it is going to get old a lot quicker than it will in a forum. I deleted all posts that were argumentative in nature.

Stay On Topic, Read The Above and do not go there, and things will be fine.

One person can and will get the thread closed if they go off topic. It is now up to you all.

DL

[fingers.t.beaver]

I am quite interested to see the sales figures for other consoles in the same 2 weeks, without thoes figures it is very hard to put these in perspective of console sales for this time.

I expect it is still doing quite well and it they don't drop even lower next week they are still going to be selling 100,000 consoles a month.

Only the month on month sales at the end of aipril will really show sucess or failure until then it's all just speculation on incomplete data.

[Bhav]

18% of 165,000 units is still a lot of units...

[fingers.t.beaver]

27000 or there abouts

[Spookie]

18% of 165,000 units is still a lot of units...

Still a 82% drop. A drop which will no doubt get larger as the summer gets closer. I've said it before, I'll say it again.

Sony missed the christmas window. The summer holidays are here. The price tag isn't appealing. They shot them selfs in the foot.

[Guest]

:D

[Samboini]

Price is definitely a strong factor I feel; although I personally wouldn't mind one further down the line, I am quite happy to give it a miss for now. My mum has just bought my little bro a Wii primarily because she went round to another friends house, saw how catchy they are and wanted one, and for the price why not. I tried to sway her to the 360 so I could be happy but no! Anyway it all boils down to price, and when she can get a Wii and another game for ~ ?200, nothing else comes close to it. Granted it may have a gimmicky factor, but for now Nintendo are laughing all the way to the bank.

If Sony somehow managed to chop ?100 of the price (not easy for companies to do, I know) those sales would jump right back up.

[Ji@nBing]

Not suprising at all to have a drop, but 82% is one hell of a drop...

[Ianwoollam]

Can't back this up, but if you ask my opinion that initial burst was people trying to sell on ebay and finding out they ain't selling on ebay due to the amount of units avalialble, and the fall in units were people not buying for ebay anymore combined with people not bothering to buy in store as you can get it cheaper off ebay :) I wouldn't be surprised if next week the sale of the units go up again when the units run out on ebay.