+Audioboxer Subscriber² Posted February 15, 2008 Subscriber² Share Posted February 15, 2008 The monthly NPD Group console sales numbers usually tell the same old story. Nintendo does awesome, there is a sharp drop in sales of the Xbox 360, and the PS3 is always at the bottom of the list. Well, the numbers for January are in, and Sony has pulled a shocker: the PS3 outsold the Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, and even the PlayStation Portable.The only system that sold more units than the PlayStation 3 was the Nintendo Wii, but this is a surprising win for Sony. The Nintendo Wii sold 274,000 units, the PlayStation 3 sold 269,000 for a close second, the Nintendo DS sold 251,000, and the Xbox 360 came in dead last with 230,000 units sold for the month. Sony has to be smiling with its system not only above its direct competitors, but within just 5,000 units of Nintendo's number one slot. So what happened? One possible reason for January's strong performance has little to do with games. Warner cut HD DVD support, Blu-ray sales then surged, and then Blu-ray became the format of choice for both Netflix and Best Buy. Consumers are beginning to see a welcome end to the format war, and are starting to embrace Blu-ray as a standard. And not only does the PlayStation 3 play Blu-ray discs out of the box, it is arguably the most capable player on the market. The picture is great, the networking features and hard drive make the system future-proof, and, while current Blu-ray owners may be worrying about whether their system can support the new 2.0 profile, PlayStation 3 owners know that their system is ready to go whenever Sony releases the update. The $400 40GB PS3 is a very strong addition to home theaters because of the Blu-ray features, streaming of media files, and even upcoming DVR support in Europe. At one time, observers believed that Sony would use gaming as a trojan horse for Blu-ray to take over your living room. Now, it appears that Blu-ray may be driving the sales of their gaming hardware. The other explanation is that Microsoft doesn't have enough hardware on retail shelves. "I hate to predict, but I certainly believe that once we get the supply out there, with the demand continuing, that we'd certainly hope for the 360 to get back into its pre-holiday rhythm," Microsoft's David Dennis told Next-Gen when asked if sales were expected to top the PlayStation once the supply issues were sorted out. Dennis then noted that Microsoft expects the shortage to be over by March, meaning we could see another Sony win in February. Actually, most stores appear have plenty of Microsoft systems in stock, the problem is they seem to be almost exclusively the Arcade model, which lacks a hard drive. The 120GB-equipped Elite seems to be the hardest model to find—and the most popular, given that some games need the hard drive for online play. Systems are on store shelves—just not the systems customers want. No matter what the reason for the strong performance of Sony's system, this is good news for both Sony's gaming division, and Blu-ray. The apparent triumph of Blu-ray arguably vindicates Sony's choice to include it in the PS3, and without any supply issues, Sony's console is in fine position to make up some lost ground in the coming months. In fact, Reuters reports that research firm iSuppli is predicting that the PS3 will emerge triumphant with a larger installed base than its competitors come 2011. Source: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080...ply-issues.html Reiterating some of what we've discussed on Neowin, however this shows the media are quick to pickup and piece things together.... Next months NPDs will be interesting. With MS saying in interview they expect shortages to last all of feb, and only start to normalize in March, coupled with the hype surrounding Sonys GDC showings, I can see PS3 remaining on top for a second month. Walmarts announcement, and the foreseeable announcement from Toshiba declaring death, should help sales as well. However, im not certain either way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neo003 Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 I usually don't care how many system they sold, since they're not paying me for promoting their system. I just care about the games they release, as long as they release a good game I am all for the system. For now I am for 360 since I like the game it allow me to play and I like PS3 since it's a BR player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy0 Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 I think its quite likely that the PS3 will remain on top next month because: a) MS have said that they have shortages of their system b) Blu-Ray I would say games, but there aren't any big PS3 exclusives coming out in the very short future, is there? (Also on that note, what 360 exclusive games are coming in this time period that could possibly push their sales further?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts