1.2 million PS3s sold in Europe over Christmas


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Record number of units sold following price cut late last year

Sony has sold a record number of PlayStation 3 consoles in Europe over the five weeks to the end of 2007, shifting 1.2 million units, the most in that time period - and in line with US sales, according to the president of the company's Games division, Kaz Hirai.

Talking to Bloomberg Television Hirai added that the company was continuing to ramp up support for its flagship console: "We want to promote games only available for PlayStation 3 - the introduction of the 40 gigabyte model is in line with that strategy.''

And although analysts generally agree that the company's original target of 11 million units shipped by the end of the financial year in March is somewhat optimistic - putting a more likely figure at 8 million - Hirai isn't concerned at this point.

"We haven't made any conclusion whether we have to give it up. It depends on how aggressively dealers buy our PS3 inventory.''

The Games division, a key earner for Sony Corporation in previous years under the earlier PlayStation models, has now made losses in the last seven consecutive quarters, although lower production costs and higher sales following the price drop should cut those losses significantly by the end of March.

In contrast Nintendo is expected to sell 19 million Wii consoles, and Microsoft 9.1 million Xbox 360s by the end of the financial year.

Source: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=32300

:)

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would be interesting to know how much MS sold during the same period in europe. Especially as it seems the PS3 is owning near enough all of europe bar the UK

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think ps3 is slowly gaining ground on the competition, give it another year and I think it'll be in just as many homes as the X360.

Think average joe is aware of the 360 reliability issues that are still present and is looking elsewhere. Having BD movies into the bargain makes it a winner IMO.

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Think average joe is aware of the 360 reliability issues that are still present and is looking elsewhere.

I doubt that's got anything to do with it. Everyone knew about the Xbox 360's problems by the beginning of 2007, and especially the 2nd half after MS announced the extended warranty, yet it still outsold the PS3 2:1 for the whole year (and just about 2:1 in December) [uS numbers].

-Spenser

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I doubt that's got anything to do with it. Everyone knew about the Xbox 360's problems by the beginning of 2007, and especially the 2nd half after MS announced the extended warranty, yet it still outsold the PS3 2:1 for the whole year (and just about 2:1 in December) [uS numbers].

-Spenser

But surely the hardware issues are not contained just to the United States? I'm sure users worldwide had them as well. But ruling out the fact that hardware issues and super long wait times would cause the users to play elsewhere is foolish. It had to have done this to some effect.

Otherwise, it's great to see Sony sales picking up steam. (Y)

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But surely the hardware issues are not contained just to the United States? I'm sure users worldwide had them as well. But ruling out the fact that hardware issues and super long wait times would cause the users to play elsewhere is foolish. It had to have done this to some effect.

Otherwise, it's great to see Sony sales picking up steam. (Y)

You know with that argument, you're actually arguing that the PS3 is actually less popular than it seems people some people are only going to it because they think their 360 they'll potentially buy will break. I still think that's pretty much a load of crap given the evidence.

And for all we know, the 360 may have destroyed the PS3 in sales in Europe too - those numbers haven't been released yet.

-Spenser

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You know with that argument, you're actually arguing that the PS3 is actually less popular than it seems people some people are only going to it because they think their 360 they'll potentially buy will break.

It has less games and it's more expensive... so in a way PS3 is indeed less popular, but the 360's hardware failures could shift their positions as buying options for some.

I only know one guy with a 360, and he has only began considering buying a ps3 when his console broke again for the third time just one week after the second repair.

I don't think PS3 sales are driven only by 360 problems, but they still might play a small role.

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How many of those PS3's will be playing games though?

The only people I know that have one only use them as a cheap BluRay player, sadly this includes me. I thought i'd have bought more games by now but still only have the 2 that came free with the machine (Heavenly Sword and Motorstorm - not bad but not great) and there hasn't been any other games that i've felt compelled to play past the demo.

The PS3 is just amazing as a media centre (even convinced my mum to get one) but for the moment my 360 gets all the games love. Hope this changes in 2008. :)

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