AndrewW Posted March 17, 2007 Posted March 17, 2007 Very interesting indeed! http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/feature/?id=15503 US SALES FIGURES FOR FEBRUARY 2007DS: 485,000 Wii: 335,000 PS2: 295,000 360: 228,000 PSP: 176,000 GBA!: 136,000 PS3: 127,000 I won't bother commenting, for fear of being accused of being a fanboi I'll just let the numbers speak for themselves. Andrew.
Tweet Posted March 18, 2007 Posted March 18, 2007 I brought across Andrew's link........ Breaking: Nintendo Dominates February; Total Industry Sales Up 53% If Nintendo keeps this up, they actually will be No. 1 again. The one-two punch of the DS and Wii is absolutely dominating. Overall, the industry had a spectacular month also. NPD's Anita Frazier tells GameDaily BIZ that she was "surprised by the sheer size of the increase." Data and comments within... [update: Comments from Michael Pachter] The NPD Group has released its video game sales data for the month of February, revealing an absolutely stellar month for the video game industry in what is typically a slower time. Total video game sales were up 53 percent to $978 million. Video game hardware was up 98 percent to $402 million ($289 million for consoles and $113 million for portables). Software sales rose almost 28 percent to $441 million ($334 million for consoles and $107 million for portables). Video game accessories totaled $136 million. Year-to-date (YTD), the industry is up 66 percent at $2.23 billion, but it's important to remember that YTD February '07 includes an additional week as compared to YTD '06. Taking a closer look at the data, it's clear that Nintendo is dominating. On the hardware front the DS sold more than any other platform with 485K units, followed by the Wii with 335K units. The PS2 once again outsold the Xbox 360, 295K vs. 228K. Meanwhile, the PS3 sold a disappointing 127K, far below analysts' estimate of 200K. In fact, the old GBA even outsold the PS3, with 136K. Sony's PSP managed to sell 176K. Finally, trailing the pack (essentially on life support) was the GameCube with 24K. On the software front, four of the top ten selling games were for Nintendo platforms. Here are the top ten, ranked by units, led by Microsoft's Crackdown. 1. Crackdown (Xbox 360) – Microsoft – 427K 2. Wii Play w/ remote (Wii) – Nintendo – 371K 3. Diddy Kong Racing (DS) – Nintendo – 262K 4. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii) – Nintendo – 130K 5. Guitar Hero 2 w/ guitar (PS2) – Activision – 130K 6. Gears of War (Xbox 360) – Microsoft – 119K 7. Major League Baseball 2K7 (Xbox 360) – Take-Two – 113K 8. Lost Planet: Extreme Condition (Xbox 360) – Capcom – 111K 9. WarioWare: Smooth Moves (Wii) – Nintendo – 109K 10. NBA Street Homecourt (Xbox 360) – Electronic Arts – 102K GameDaily BIZ spoke briefly with NPD analyst Anita Frazier, who said that she was really surprised by the February sales numbers. "The sheer size of the increase surprised me, because it's one of the slower months of the year," she remarked. While all the focus is on the battle between 360, PS3 and Wii, Frazier pointed out that it's still the older systems driving the industry. "Yes, the newer platforms are certainly ramping up, and the 360 is now a major contributor each month to industry performance. But the #1 platform in unit contribution and the #2 platform in dollar contribution is still the 'oldest' of what I'll call the 'Now-Gen' platforms: the PS2. Using the term 'legacy' or 'previous gen' certainly seems inappropriate for a platform that is continuing to provide such a solid foundation for the industry - certainly it did last year during the console transition, and it is still holding its own against the newer entrants." Frazier also cautioned that despite the slow sales for PS3 right now, it's way too early to make any judgment on the console race. "I stick with what I've said for a few months now - we won't know how the console race will turn out for months to come. Remember that the first few months of PS2 sales were relatively slow, and we know what happened with that platform. I think we will need to weigh this question at the end of 2007 - only then will we really know how all the new content and features will ultimately affect sales of the hardware," she concluded. [uPDATE] Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter has now issued his report on the February results, including some additional data. There were 10 games that sold over 100,000 units apiece and the average selling price was up 11 percent to $33.31. Cumulative hardware sales in the U.S. through February for Xbox 360 stood at 5.1 million units, while Wii has sold 1.9 million units, and PS3 has sold 1.1 million units. Regarding Sony, Pachter said, "Demand for the PS3 is tracking below our expectations, while demand for the Wii remains strong. Once demand for the PS3 picks up later this year, we expect a greater decline in PS2 software sales. Although we expect a year-over-year decline of 30 – 35% for overall current generation software sales in 2007, we believe that next generation software sales growth will more than offset this decline." He also said that he was "pleasantly surprised by software attach rates and overall sales for the Wii and PS3 platform," adding, "Although overall hardware sales for the two platforms fell short of our forecast by 16%, overall software sales exceeded our forecast by 17%. This was due to this month's tie ratios of 3.4 and 3.6 for the PS3 and Wii, respectively, compared to last month's 2.2 tie ratio for the Wii and 2.7 tie ratio for the PS3. While some detractors may consider the next generation cycle off to a poor start, we think that improving tie ratios indicate strong demand for the relatively light software lineup on the next gen consoles, and we believe that once a greater variety of compelling software is released later this year, demand for the new hardware will increase." Looking ahead, Pachter expects the good times for the video game industry to continue into the summer. "We expect double digit monthly sales growth to persist through July, with releases such as God of War 2 (March), Guitar Hero 2 for Xbox 360, Pokemon Diamond/Pearl, and Spider-Man 3 (April), Shrek the Third and Mass Effect (May), Ratatouille (June), and Transformers, Harry Potter, and The Simpsons(all in July) driving favorable year-over-year sales. Total 2006 software sales (including PC) were +6% compared to 2005, and we believe that 2007 software sales will be +17%, with strong sales in the first quarter (+41% in the first two months) moderating to low double-digit growth during the second and third quarters when year-over-year comparisons become more difficult." by James Brightman C.M
Highjinx Posted March 18, 2007 Posted March 18, 2007 Hells bells!...add the 3 Sony items and one come up with a total of 598,000 units sold!!!! Just Huge I tell ya...just HUGE!!
jokiin Posted March 18, 2007 Posted March 18, 2007 Surprising how stong the 360 sales still are considering how long its been available
AndrewW Posted March 18, 2007 Author Posted March 18, 2007 Hells bells!...add the 3 Sony items and one come up with a total of 598,000 units sold!!!! Just Huge I tell ya...just HUGE!! Nice spin. How about this one. The PS2 outsold the PS3 by nearly 3 to 1. What does that tell you ? Andrew.
momaw Posted March 18, 2007 Posted March 18, 2007 Nice spin.How about this one. The PS2 outsold the PS3 by nearly 3 to 1. What does that tell you ? Andrew. and Nintendo outsells Sony nearly 2:1
Highjinx Posted March 18, 2007 Posted March 18, 2007 Nice spin.How about this one. The PS2 outsold the PS3 by nearly 3 to 1. What does that tell you ? Andrew. I believe the PS2 is the worlds largest selling console. This tells me Sony has to move the PS3 to a SoC type design as soon as possible and I'm sure plans are rolling. Once price is brought down to PS2 levels in a few years+......it will take over the WORLD!
AndrewW Posted March 18, 2007 Author Posted March 18, 2007 I believe the PS2 is the worlds largest selling console. This is correct This tells me Sony has to move the PS3 to a SoC type design as soon as possible and I'm sure plans are rolling. Once price is brought down to PS2 levels in a few years+......it will take over the WORLD! Nope what it tells me is that many millions of people acknowledge that there is no compelling reason to upgrade from a PS2 to a PS3 (at least at the price they are charging for it). Andrew.
Highjinx Posted March 18, 2007 Posted March 18, 2007 This is correctNope what it tells me is that many millions of people acknowledge that there is no compelling reason to upgrade from a PS2 to a PS3 (at least at the price they are charging for it). Andrew. No! ........Many millions people would love to have a PS3 but cannot afford it at it's current price. So they continue to enjoy their PS2.....saving patiently......dreaming of the day when they will unwrap that shiny new black beauty!
jokiin Posted March 18, 2007 Posted March 18, 2007 How about this one.The PS2 outsold the PS3 by nearly 3 to 1. What does that tell you ? That more people can afford something that's one fifth the price??
sulimo Posted March 18, 2007 Posted March 18, 2007 I'll just respond by posting Japanese stats Here are the Japanese console hardware sales for the week of Feb 26 - Mar 4, 2007:1. Nintendo DS - 111,926 [1,489,334] units 2. PSP - 66,156 [503,984] units 3. Wii - 57,972 [803,574] units 4. PlayStation 3 - 44,000 [262,725] units 5. PlayStation 2 - 15,364 [196,047] units 6. Xbox 360 - 3,379 [65,389] units 7. GBASP/GBM/GBA - 1,568 [24,144] units 8. GameCube - 303 [4,432] units - Here are the Top 10 Best Selling Japanese console games for the week of Feb 26 - Mar 4, 2007: 1. Gundam Musou (PS3, Bandai Namco) - 170,725 units 2. Super Robot Taisen W (NDS, Banpresto) - 139,311 units 3. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd (PSP, Capcom) - 137,851 [843,132] units 4. Wii Sports (Wii, Nintendo) - 39,639 [1,130,376] units 5. Layton Kyouju no Fushigi na Machi (NDS, Level 5) - 33,957 [220,673] units 6. Unou no Tatsuhin! Soukai! Machigai Museum 2 (NDS, Bandai Namco) - 28,495 units 7. Hajimete no Wii [Wii Play] (Wii, Nintendo) - 31,702 [976,288] units 8. Dragon Quest Monsters Joker (NDS, Square Enix) - 27,263 [1,201,812] units 9. New Super Mario Bros. (NDS, Nintendo) - 24,545 [4,193,532] units 10. Kawashima Ryuuta Kyouju Kanshuu: Motto Nouo Kitaeru Otona DS Training (NDS, Nintendo) - 22,854 [4,039,850] units The bracketed figures being totals for '07. That more people can afford something that's one fifth the price?? Exactly. Its not that surprising. The PS2 beat the combined sales of Wii and 360 here at Christmas, and supposedly the PS2 made 90% of its local sales once it fell below $300. I expect the same will be true now.
momaw Posted March 18, 2007 Posted March 18, 2007 I'll just respond by posting Japanese stats interesting, but unfortunately the market in Japan is so different from ours (being the western market) that I'm not sure any inferences can be faithfully translated. Exactly. Its not that surprising. The PS2 beat the combined sales of Wii and 360 here at Christmas, and supposedly the PS2 made 90% of its local sales once it fell below $300. I expect the same will be true now. Which means the real battle is which console can get to sub $300 first and have the games line up to make it attractive. Personally I think the 360 will make it there first. Sony's delayed launch and console with less room for price cuts may come back to bite it big time. There can be no doubt that it is seen as the last option at this stage. The question is, can they rise above this perception? Given their arrogance and pricing policies of late, I'm not so sure. Looks to me like the Xbox is going to give Sony the ganking Sony gave Nintendo. They should have read their history. Disclaimer: I have been a PS fan since the PSX and hated the original xbox, but I have to give MS their due. They certainly learnt alot from that 1st experience and delivered with the 360.
AndrewW Posted March 18, 2007 Author Posted March 18, 2007 No! ........Many millions people would love to have a PS3 but cannot afford it at it's current price. So they continue to enjoy their PS2.....saving patiently......dreaming of the day when they will unwrap that shiny new black beauty! So how exactly does that tie in with the Sony line that the PS3 will be the weapon that wins the HD DVD/Blu Ray "war" ? I dare say it will be many years before the PS3 comes down to PS2 price levels. Andrew. This tells me Sony has to move the PS3 to a SoC type design as soon as possible and I'm sure plans are rolling. Once price is brought down to PS2 levels in a few years+......it will take over the WORLD! There you go, straight from the horses mouth. How exactly is the PS3 going to help BD take over the world ? Andrew.
sulimo Posted March 18, 2007 Posted March 18, 2007 How exactly is the PS3 going to help BD take over the world ?Andrew. I'm not sure, but I imagine its the reason why Casino Royale became the first HD title ever to crack the top 10 movie sales list on Amazon and why BR sales continue to improve.
johnn1503560523 Posted March 18, 2007 Posted March 18, 2007 very good figure for the PS3, considering that there not that many games released for it yet. Like the usual, software drives hardware sales.
sulimo Posted March 18, 2007 Posted March 18, 2007 Which means the real battle is which console can get to sub $300 first and have the games line up to make it attractive. Personally I think the 360 will make it there first. Sony's delayed launch and console with less room for price cuts may come back to bite it big time. There can be no doubt that it is seen as the last option at this stage. The question is, can they rise above this perception? Given their arrogance and pricing policies of late, I'm not so sure. Well...I'm not sure how much less they could have priced the PS3. They're supposedly losing US$250-300 per console now based on the U.S. prices. Sure they could have just not used BluRay...but I doubt that would have made it magically cheap as Wii or less. It would have just been 360 prices and they'd still have the same kind of problems. An expensive console that has less major games than 360 because its in a different point in the cycle. You know what I find amusing. That I paid less for my PS3 than I did for my PSOne at launch. And thats just raw numbers, not taking inflation into account.
momaw Posted March 18, 2007 Posted March 18, 2007 Well...I'm not sure how much less they could have priced the PS3. They're supposedly losing US$250-300 per console now based on the U.S. prices.Sure they could have just not used BluRay...but I doubt that would have made it magically cheap as Wii or less. It would have just been 360 prices and they'd still have the same kind of problems. An expensive console that has less major games than 360 because its in a different point in the cycle. You know what I find amusing. That I paid less for my PS3 than I did for my PSOne at launch. And thats just raw numbers, not taking inflation into account. I'm not talking about whether the hardware you get for your money is a good deal or not, what I'm saying is $399 - Wii, $650 (actually less than $600 in most places now) - 360 or $999 - PS3. Put yourself in the average buyers shoes, or mum and dad buying a toy for Johnny's shoes. How many are going to chose the $999 option?
sulimo Posted March 18, 2007 Posted March 18, 2007 I'm not talking about whether the hardware you get for your money is a good deal or not, what I'm saying is $399 - Wii, $650 (actually less than $600 in most places now) - 360 or $999 - PS3. Put yourself in the average buyers shoes, or mum and dad buying a toy for Johnny's shoes. How many are going to chose the $999 option? True. Next gen consoles aren't for those people. Theres a reason why Sony only stopped making the PSOne last year. The main stream is in the sub 200 range. And its going to be years before any next gen console hits that. Same thing happened with the DVD. I don't know about Australia, but in the US it only really took off when players were available for US$200.
momaw Posted March 18, 2007 Posted March 18, 2007 True. Next gen consoles aren't for those people. Theres a reason why Sony only stopped making the PSOne last year. The main stream is in the sub 200 range. And its going to be years before any next gen console hits that. Same thing happened with the DVD. I don't know about Australia, but in the US it only really took off when players were available for US$200. Hence my comment that the 360 will reach this market a long time before the PS3, at which point I don't think it will catch up. Sony need to prepare for the next gen as I believe they may have missed the boat on this one. Also none of this has to do with which console is "better", it's all market forces.
-Bishop- Posted March 18, 2007 Posted March 18, 2007 To me that list just shows you exactly what people are prepared to pay for a games machine, Nintendo obviously read the market perfectly, and are now reaping the benefits of that. The PS2 is just selling it's ass off because it's cheap, and it's what people buy when they realise they can't afford a PS3, that and the huge amount of games titles is a big draw card, I know a couple of guys who bought PS2's recently, for those two reasons. I would have expected the 360 to be selling better buy now, it's not 'that' expensive, but I guess maybe people do just expect more for their money these days, and are perhaps wary of early market pricing? PS3 sales are awful, I can't believe Sony lowered their expected sales figures yet again, and still did not manage to meet the target. It can't be looking great over at Sony HQ, already loosing money, no more price reductions planed for some time, and they really did totally misread the market.
AndrewW Posted March 18, 2007 Author Posted March 18, 2007 I would have expected the 360 to be selling better buy now, it's not 'that' expensive, but I guess maybe people do just expect more for their money these days, and are perhaps wary of early market pricing? Don't forget, this is in the US, where the 360 has been out for nearly 18 months. Andrew.
Tweet Posted March 18, 2007 Posted March 18, 2007 To me that list just shows you exactly what people are prepared to pay for a games machine, Nintendo obviously read the market perfectly, and are now reaping the benefits of that.The PS2 is just selling it's ass off because it's cheap, and it's what people buy when they realise they can't afford a PS3, that and the huge amount of games titles is a big draw card, I know a couple of guys who bought PS2's recently, for those two reasons. I would have expected the 360 to be selling better buy now, it's not 'that' expensive, but I guess maybe people do just expect more for their money these days, and are perhaps wary of early market pricing? PS3 sales are awful, I can't believe Sony lowered their expected sales figures yet again, and still did not manage to meet the target. It can't be looking great over at Sony HQ, already loosing money, no more price reductions planed for some time, and they really did totally misread the market. There was a rumor that a cheaper version of the PS3 (to be fitted with a DVD player) was in the pipeline. Then there's the futuristic PS4.............Is Sony pricing itself out of the market ? http://www.bbspot.com/News/2006/09/sony-playstation-4.html C.M
AndrewW Posted March 18, 2007 Author Posted March 18, 2007 There was a rumor that a cheaper version of the PS3 (to be fitted with a DVD player) was in the pipeline. I can't see that happening, as the games are all designed for and master on BD. They'd have to duplicate efforts on all games to bring out BD and DVD version ... Andrew.
Tweet Posted March 18, 2007 Posted March 18, 2007 Sony: PS3 Price Cut Not Likely For Two Years. http://kotaku.com/gaming/ps3/sony-ps3-pric...ears-239816.php I'll see if I can locate that........ " There was a rumor that a cheaper version of the PS3 (to be fitted with a DVD player) was in the pipeline." ......news item link again. It may well be idle speculation but I'll give it a go. Found it .......... http://www.squidoo.com/ps3news/ Text below... " PlayStation 3 Model Without Blu-Ray? It is rumored that Sony will be releasing another version of the PlayStation that does not include the Blu-Ray drive so that they can recapture the market and offer a lower priced console. This move is "aimed at family pricing"." C.M
Highjinx Posted March 18, 2007 Posted March 18, 2007 So how exactly does that tie in with the Sony line that the PS3 will be the weapon that wins the HD DVD/Blu Ray "war" ?I dare say it will be many years before the PS3 comes down to PS2 price levels. Andrew. There you go, straight from the horses mouth. How exactly is the PS3 going to help BD take over the world ? Andrew. So how exactly does that tie in with the Sony line that the PS3 will be the weapon that wins the HD DVD/Blu Ray "war" ? The PS3 covers many grounds, the gamer, the movie buff & a combination of both. Sure as a console it is expensive, as a BluRay player it is excellent value, as a combination of both it is exceptional value. We are already seeing the PS3 effect on HD media sales, very positive for BluRay. Dare I say on Friday the23rd onwards we will see an even greater market shift towards BluRay. We will over the next few months see a flow on demand for HD display panels as well. The manufacturing cost of the PS3 will come down with SoC designs and chip shrinks(90nm to 65nm etc). Come June, there will be several affordable BluRay players HDMI1.3 capable units come on stream, available under the price of the 60Gb PS3 model, along with that I anticipate a drop in PS3 sales, caused by non gamers who will now not buy the PS3, as their BluRay player of choice, as a cheaper alternative is available. However by then, every man, woman & child will be aware what BluRay is....the PS3 would have done it's job for BluRay. Sony most likely will use the PS3 developed laser head on these new machines to lower it's costs of both the PS3 and the standalone units. This laser head may be offered to other manufacturers to further reduce the cost of BluRay players throughout the BluRay camp....economies of scale at work. The tsunami effect....a massive Blu wall of water cometh to sweep all away! Of course much higher priced feature laden models will be offered as well. Choices will be a plenty, rest assured those who chose Blu, will sail securely into the wide Blu yonder with a world of unparalleled entertainment, visual and aural splendour availble to them at a touch of a button.
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