Sony's PS3 sales in US more than double since price cut
By Thomas Ricker 
posted Nov 15th 2007 6:50AM
posted Nov 15th 2007 6:50AM
A few of our readers were scoffing at the idea of a $399 40GB PS3. "What's the big deal," you said. This: according to Sony's CEO, Sir Howard Stringer, they've more than doubled sales in the US in the weeks since its launch. "It's the breakthrough we've been waiting for," said Stringer, "We've been holding our breath. Finally, the turning point has been passed." Prior to the October 18th price cut, Sony was selling just 30k to 40k consoles per week. Sales rose to 75,000 in the week ending October 29 rising to 100,000 the following week. Stringer also credits Wii shortages for helping the boost. Andrew House, Sony's chief marketing officer even takes a jab at HD DVD saying, "It puts us vastly ahead of where the other format is going to be in terms of an installed base in people's homes by the end of this holiday season." Perhaps, but we don't expect the boys at Microsoft, Nintendo, and Toshiba to just roll over and let this progress continue unabated now, do we?
dude, did you noticed that when you put up an entry about blu ray/hd dvd, they are the ones that get the most comments and it end up with people attacking each other fanaticaly and personaly, but not as much as about with everything else? i guess theres no debating here on anything regarding the ps3 sales increase huh?
Regarding the format war is how many of these new ps3s are bought for blu-ray & not the game library of the ps3? It's not 100%. That's why the HD-DVD group compares apples to apples- standalones to standalones.
Come on now, they don't compare apples to apples. Look at the attach rate, which includes the PS3.
Hmmmm, maybe they did that because it shows the PS3 isn't being used to watch movies, since most people who can't spell 1080p, let alone know what it means are unable to deduce that from the 2 to 1 sales ratio.
I stand corrected.
H0mi-
right now HD-DVD compares all players including the PS3 for attach rate but only standalone for players sold.
They compare apples to watermelons for now.
Also, with the original price cut of 600 to 500, sales jumped from 80k a month to 160-200k, then settled down back to 120k levels.
This easily counters the $99 HD DVD players in total sales... HD DVD will have to strike back. Blu ray is enjoying a comfortable lead with 2:1 movie sales right now; adding this many Blu-ray players (that also happen to play video games) will only widen the margin. I own both HD DVD and Blu-ray, and this (already successful) price cut might be (in my opinion) the beginning of the end for HD DVD.
Ryan J, you're a regular Nostradamus!
Geez, does everything depend on $100 discounts? $400 PS3 w/Spider-man 3 is arguably too much for Xbox and HD DVD to compete with, especially with good games finally coming out. Guess we'll be going to a single HD format sooner than anticipated after all. Not hat I care.
I am one of those souls who bought the PS3 when its price got lowered to $400. The XBox 360 is currently so much more expensive when you have to get the Elite version AND the add-on HD-DVD for HDMI capability with a hard drive. In addition, with Disney releasing quality titles on Blu-ray finally (Ratatouille, Cars) it strengthened the case. I bought my PS3 to play both games and dvds, as my 1080p LCD had been lacking an 1080p source. Since I don't have tons of leisure time to spend, at this time quality matters more than quantity for me in terms of games and dvds - which the PS3 has delivered.
All the Xbox models now include HDMI - you don't have to buy the elite to get it.
TrentD:
Is the only difference too a 120gig drive and smaller (Nm) cpu and/or cooling heatsink? Sort of a technical question. They got'em at K-marts (select deal) for $279 w/ the coupon (PS3 for 319).
This will mean that blu-ray-active players increase at a rate of about 20K per month. At most. Considering that you'll be able to get a stand-alone Sony S300 for $399 as well, the numbers may now skew lower, since a PS3 is no longer a cheaper BD player, and has some deficiencies as a dedicated hi-def movie machine.
This is, of course, the beset counter strategy Sony has -- and they will be promoting it in a way that increases it's attractiveness as a BD player.
Whether Toshiba can sell enough A3's to make the PS3s moot is another question. If they sell 1 million A3s before the end of the year, the effective addition of maybe 50K PS3s used for video will be insignificant. If they stay at $250 street price, then they lose a big chance. Do they have that million to sell?
HDMI is not going to save the crapbox. It's a last gen console and will find its main competition to be the PS2 and the kiddie wii. Anyone who wants quality gaming will go to the PS3 or stay with PC games. Xbox, with their 620p "masterpiece" Halo3, is a joke.
XBOX 360 is smashing PS3 in hardware sales for this month November and for ages now.
XBOX 360 software is currently out selling ALL of Sony's software combined, that's PS2, PSP and PS3 combined.
You have returned to the same infantile bullshi* nonsense that has made you a serial pest on this site.
Why don't you try quoting some facts instead of the continual flame driven crap.
http://www.vgchartz.com/
Honestly, I don't know what else HD DVD could do aside from giving away their players for free.
I used to want HD DVD to win, but after weighing all of the pros and cons to each, I finally decided that unless the Blu-Ray camp severly F's things up, they're going to come out the winners, or at least won't lose. You need content and support from the CE manufacturers, and they have both going for them more that Toshiba.
However, I decided to hedge my bets and just got my PS3 40gig yesterday. So count me among the new buyers. At least it's a gaming platform if something happens to the format.
Steve,
I'm with you on this but I made the plunge a while ago. I think HD-DVD still could win but BD seems to be on more sounds business footings.
IF BD does loose by the time the market is cleared you will be able to get a $40 HD-DVD player and movies will be $10 a pop
Dell has the best deal
Spidey 3, HDMI cable, Ratchet n Clank (GREAT GAME), 40gb PS3 $399
http://accessories.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=ca&l=en&s=dhs&cs=cadhs1&sku=A1320793
"Honestly, I don't know what else HD DVD could do aside from giving away their players for free."
They could start by getting Best Buy, Circuit City, and other electronics retailers to sell HD-A3's for $99 on Black Friday. After the Walmart $99 HD-A2 clearance on Friday, November 2nd, selling a HD-A3 for $150-$200 seems like a giant rip-off as far as Black Friday deals go. I'm not definitely getting up early for that "deal."
More importantly -- is this PS2 **STILL** outselling the PS3????
Don't you mean
"Isn't the ps2 still outselling every game system except the DS?"
The Cpu and Gpu die size is a big deal for the XBOX360. The systems with only the heatsink improvement will not be as good as the one with the shrunk chips.
Hold out for a system with the smaller chip set even if you have to spend more.
I bought a 40 GB PS3 last weekend, so I'm officially "in the trenches" I guess. It's primarily for movie watching, but I also bought Lemmings for some good gaming enjoyment. Man, that makes me nostalgic for the days waaay back when I used to play it on the PC.
In the interest of full disclosure, I've owned an Xbox 360 since launch day, and an Xbox before that. I never owned a PS2. I didn't even consider an HD DVD add-on for the 360 since the console is too noisy for me to fully enjoy a passive activity like movie watching while it's on. I've also always wanted to cast my vote for one and only one format, to help encourage mass adoption of HD media. It's nice to hear that Sony's strategy may be working out. I always thought the game-centric people criticizing the 40 GB PS3 were missing the point. It was a great idea, targeted exactly at people like me who care mostly about getting into HD movies and have no interest in PS2 backward compatibility.
Just as an aside, I've been watching HD since 2002, but the Pixar movies on Blu Ray are unbelievable with their direct digital 1080p transfers. While watching Ratatouille I was continually distracted from the story by just how palpable ever little texture looked.
I completely agree with you on why Sony put out the 40 GB PS3. I picked up a PS3 a couple of days ago at K-Mart for $319. I mainly got the PS3 for its Blu-ray drive, its ability to be used a media extender and the cell processor (I'm a software developer). I don't really care if it can play PS2 games.
I should also note that I bought a HD-A2 for $99 at Wal-Mart a couple of weeks back, so the total investment in order to be format neutral was under $500.
No, they compare apples to apples. Standalones to Standalones. PC drives, add ons, game consoles all are not counted in standalone player comps and I'm not sure if that sales data is even tracked anywhere (consoles are but not sure about add ons or PC drives).
Attach rates are a different animal and have little to do with how many standalone players are sold. Trying to draw some sort of parallel between attach rates and standalone player sales _is_ comparing apples to watermelons.
Given that many, if not most, blu-ray players are bought by people who have yet to buy a single blu-ray disc, what is the utility in comparing these player sales?
Fuzz-
They never said that this was an American boost in sales. It could have been a worldwide sell rate of 30k to 70k.
What this doesn't say is if this is a one time blip. There may have been a big pent up demand for the PS3 where people wanted to pass the 400 barrier. Will this continue along or will the number quickly go back to near where the began last month?
Joe,
I believe this will be a blip in the radar like all other price drops. I don't think they will see sustainable sell through until they come down further in price.
That being said the blu boys always claim price doesn't matter, if that's true why the sales increase?
Sales are also increasing due to the biggest item on the radar... the Holiday Season. every item will increase.
This is just a blip and the PS3 is still far behind the installed bases of the Wii and 360. The PS3 is a flawed business model and Sony is losing money by the butt loads and I don't see anything reversing this trend. There are practically no exclusive titles for the PS3 that isn't on the 360 and demand for blu ray isn't what it needs to be for all the money Sony invested in blu ray and the cell processor technology (which no one likes). Casual gamers will stick with the cheaper Wii and 360. Most of America still has no clue what HD is and will stick with low prices of DVD.
Ludonut:
I wont argue the faulty "initial" business model of the PS3 division. It's faults came with the expensive diode for BD and not giving enough time to Soft. Dev's a kit for cell processor research. Some say the PS3's design is a electrical engineer's wet dream, and a programmer's worst nightmare.
But coming from the "casual gamer's" perspective, how well did M$ do with their first year? Good actually.. why is that? It was the first "next-gen" console game, it's competitors were PS2, game cube, and it's own xb 1.0. But how were the titles in it's first year (Quality wise)? slim pickings. You had initially Ghost Recon, and then right before it's 1st year's B-day, you got GoW, 2 games. There are roughly 5-7 quality exclusive titles to hit right before PS3 turns 1. I won't mention the games to come because it seems the HD-DVD crowd turns on their selective reading goggles, and points to me stating what's to come, and what I have not mentioned.
That doesn't make up for it's faulty sales, and it's lack of resources to the programmers, but blu-ray technology will be around for a long time, and is proving that with certain exclusive titles (utilizing the disk space).
As for the Wii, It's killing both platforms, but I talked to some friends of mine who bought both PS3's and Wii's last fall.. for the first 6 months their PS3's collected dust, having fun with the Wii... but lack of additional content was slipping for the Wii (not injuring sales at all), and then they turned on their PS3s, and come to find the titles that they chose, and their words "this is actually an incredible console".
The problem is that Sony adopted the XBOX business model. The xbox is having a piss poor year also. Remember with the xbox 360 sold it's 10 millionth unit. Right now Nintendo is in the lead with 11~12 million units.
The Xbox 360 is completely stalled. They only have Mass Effect to carry them for the holiday. It looks like Ratchet & Clank and Uncharted will both be big ps3 titles for Christmas.
Sony was until very recently still moving the most software in terms of dollars. Just recently passed by Nintendo.
Barring any surprise announcement from MS, Sony looks like the tortoise and the MS hare.
I think there's a problem of saying that one platform or format is beating another. They aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. The Wii isn't killing 360 or PS3, it's just selling more. 360 seems to be standing well enough on its own, and PS3 might even end up being sustainable in a while too.
I'm not buying games for anything recent though, it's too much money except for the small games that can be bought through the system's web store.
domerdel, I just don't see you optimism on the future outlook of the PS3. Nearly all publishers are going to target their games for the 360 and/or Wii because of its larger installed base and cheaper development costs. The PS3 lose more and more exclusives like the recent Ace Combat 6 which resulted in the 360 outselling the Wii for the first time for this reason. It makes very little sense for publishers to invest huge sums of money into developing for the PS3 when the odds of a decent return is so low. I agree with your point if there was a strong lineup of exclusive PS3 titles, but I just don't see games like MGS turning the tide. This isn't fanboyism. Just plain dollar and cents. Blu ray may be around, but the PS3 won't unless sometime changes dramatically.
@Domer
delYour having a wet dream, as a games console,PS3 is getting smashed by Wii and XBOX 360. Forget blu ray for a moment, there is no spinning the facts, there is no " my friends think", there is no excuse, as a games console pS3 is getting shafted!
Why can you not accept the facts and stop trying to talk bullshi*, your getting as bad as the idiot h4.
@Domerdel
Your having a wet dream, as a games console,PS3 is getting smashed by Wii and XBOX 360. Forget blu ray for a moment, there is no spinning the facts, there is no " my friends think", there is no 360 last year excuse, as a games console, today pS3 is getting shafted!
Why can you not accept the facts and stop trying to talk bullshi*, your getting as bad as the idiot h4.
Ah, the smell of raging haters in the morning!
I find amusing that no one remembers that SM3 is included in the box of those PS3s.
So if the number of Blu Ray users among PS3 owners was 20% (Toshiba number) or 40% (Sony number) before, they would have to be really think to not realize that their machine is a Blu Ray HD player now (according to a study up to 60% of the PS3 owners didn't know their machine could play HD medias).
Cue large increase of Blu Ray software :)
Oh and also love the delusional people who don't want to realize that a large number of gamers were on the fence for a sub-$400 PS3, including those already owning a 360 (and with al lthe very good games coming up with Xmas, includign a good number of exclusives).
As the Sony exec said, this is the turning point :)
I myself already have planned to buy a PS3, mostly as Blu Ray player, along with my first LCD TV set this winter. Can't wait :)
Dell is sending out Direct email advertising for PS3 and they specify it includes a bluray drive. Sounds like the old HDDVD camp argument that PS3's don't count may get trumped by explicit advertising the PS3 as a bluray player...
The 360 is "completely stalled"? VGcharts shows that while ps3 sales are currently surging, 360 sales are as well, and are still surpassing ps3 sales (after having it's own surge in September due to the halo 3 effect).
Mass effect doesn't need to carry the 360 over the holiday season for 2007. Halo 3, Orange Box, COD4, GH3, Forza 2 and Marvel UA will continue to sell well over the holiday season and drive system sales. In fact I'm pretty certain COD4 and GH3 on the ps3 will combined outsell Ratchet & Clank and Uncharted over the remainder of the year, nevermind sales of other 360 titles. Ps3 sales will probably slow down in a week or 2 once that pent up demand based on the older $400 rumors is met.
You could not be more incorrect if you tried.
Try using some facts for a change, you might find it very enlightening.
XBOX360 has been having a huge run, completely smashing the PS3, and for your information, the XBOX 360 has sold over 13 million units, so you were only out by 3 million units.
XBOX 360 is outselling all Sony software combined, thats PSP, PS2 and PS3
http://www.vgchartz.com/
MS still has lots going for them, Guitar Hero III, Call of Duty 4, Mass Effect, Halo 3, sure alot of them are not exclusive, but lots of young teens will look at what there friends have and think hey I could play them with live if I got an Xbox, plus they have tons of catalog titles that are still great and can be found at great prices now. Sure the wii is going to win, but I think everyone new that would happen, plus it a different market, the wii has a monopoly over its market, the box and ps3 are batteling there own market.
before anyone calls me a fanboy, I have all three systems, 20GB box, 60GB ps3 and wii, the ps3 is for the most part my bd player, dont play alot of games on it (only because there are not alot of games available, and all my buddies are on Live). I have my own dedicated A1 for HDDVD and going to upgrade this holiday season the A1 is talking the second TV.
And to h4ldol, I realize everyone already knows that you know nothing, I still like it when people point it out again haha, rez means nothing when it comes to good games, its all about gameplay, hence why the general public has attached to the wii so well they enjoy the gameplay, not the limbless wii sports graphics. Look at the PC, Counter Strike, WOW, Half Life, all great games nothing all that fancy in terms of graphics. Its the same reason I get so addicted to those little arcade games on the box, long live heavy weapon haha.
So commenting on the actual post now, this is good news for the PS3 and BD, its still lacking in terms of all those great games vs the box, but its a start to a possible strong fourth quarter. The question is will MS and Toshiba fight back, given the price reduction of box and HDDVD manufacturing, they could easily hit a lower price point if MS could grow some balls and actually support HDDVD, they always talk how they are about choice but given the price of a box and add on its not really support, they need and all in one box at $300 to $350 and the add on to be about $50 to $80, it is just a drive after all. But thats not up to me, so will see how it plays out.
Cheers
juice- The Halo effect is already come and gone. It wasn't a huge system mover. It moved a LOT of disks and did provide a brief uptick in 360 sales.
GH series games sell okay on the 360 but they are killer on the PS2. The low price and installed base make it huge and relevant still.
PS3 and Box supporters like to say the Wii is in it's own market but it's not. It competing with the PS2 in the big boy slot. While the PS3 and XBOX are in very tiny market segment. The XBOX1 was a niche product. The 360 hasn't shown that it can outgrow or out profit the XBOX1. I think Halo3 has yet to do as well as Halo 2,in total sales. The PS3 is seriously competing with the 360. Costing almost $200 more than the 'BOX did it's doing very near the same number since inception.
Sony was able to turn the PSP around and make a nice bit of profit from it. They will stick with the PS3 until they make their money back. I don't see how with Nintendo existing MS could ever turn an overall profit from this generation.
Smee:
if any "fanboyism" exists, it has to be your comments. Bringing me down to the H4Idol level is some attempt to get my attention, well, you got it, but for me to have an opinion, and SHARING the opinion of my network of friends, not to prove any point, just to share my perspective.
While I disagree with others on the red side or anti-sony (somewhat of a shared border there), you really come out and show your true colors of a troll.
Listen, from here on out this is not the NYT, this is where people comment, and we all disagree, bring our perspectives to the table, i wasn't citing any articles quoting "facts", it was basically "here's my take on it based on my experience" approach.
So much denial from PS3 crowd. I think you people fail to see that 2008 might be the end of PS3. Sony is completely dropping Cell which we can see by their sales of cell technology and manufacturing, Blu-Ray will be pretty much existant forsome games that go out for PS3 (aka UMD model) and the rest of us logical and real people will enjoy HD DVD for movies and Xbox 360 and Wii for entertainment. PS3 will go down as one of the WORST synergies and business models of recent history.
Just watch.
Nfinity-
You are always good for a laugh. You do know that Sony sold the Cell plant to Toshiba which is going to use it for a video process in their line of next generation video components. Those things included HD-DVD players and TV's
Sony, Toshiba and IBM own the IP rights on the cell chips. They are FAR from dropping the cell and your technology hero Toshiba thought it was a good idea to buy the fab outright. They were previously partners with Sony.
Selling the fab means that Sony doesn't have to focus efforts on how to make better chip foundries and leave that to IBM and Toshiba to invest the 10's billions that costs. Sony was never big enough to make CPU manufacturing a viable side business.
Nice how you tried to place the Wii and the XBOX360 next to each other. Nintendo will not have any part of the HD-DVD nonsense. The Wii couldn't decode a HD-DVD stream without having to make a big investment.
The PS3 at worst will go down like the Gamecube. If Vista falters to much and becomes like winME, the highly unprofitable home entertainment division might get dropped. When you have never turned a serious profit how long do you pour money in to a hole?
Amusing yet sad how HD DVD fanboys like to post multiple, identical posts under different usernames. Geez, are you guys so desperate and scared that HD DVD is going to die that you resort to posting under various handles in the same thread to create the illusion that there are even more HD DVD fanboys out there than there really are? Get a grip guys, it's not life.
OK, the h4 comment was a touch harsh, but you are still in lala land with your comments re the PS3.
It is getting smashed by the Wii and the XBOX 360, and that is fact, not the opinion of a few of my friends.
The PS3 is a high quality niche market product, and IMO, that is where it will remain, no where near the Wii or 360.
HERE'S SOME FACTS, SO STOP IT WITH THE PS3 LIES.
10-Nov 3-Nov
Wii 192,482 146,934 +31%
DS 142,299 136,589 +4%
PS3 63,788 55,446 +15%
PSP 75,954 80,328 -5%
Xbox 360 173,895 138,788 +25%
Only PSP, which saw a dearth of significant software released this week, saw a decline in hardware sales. Still this week saw very strong hardware sales – with DS, Wii , and Xbox 360 all seeing continued stellar sales. PSP and PS3 hardware sales remain solid as well, although while Wii and Xbox 360 sell nearly 1:1, PS3 continues to be outsold by each console by roughly 3:1. DS continues to outsell PSP by a ratio of 2:1 heading into the final weeks of the year.
suck x 2 = still suck
PS3 needs a defining game to take it to those stellar sales. When GTA IV comes out that should bump up the figures. Great games are what helps a console shift units and if you're just buying a PS3 for the sake of it then you're probably gonna be pretty dissapointed.
http://GadgetHeat.myassociate.co.uk/