Unit sales of video game consoles in the USA were down significantly both sequentially and year over year in January ’08, recent figures from NPD group show. Microsoft Corp., Nintendo and observers said the reason of unit sales decline were supply constraints. However, those constraints did not dethrone Nintendo Wii and even allowed Sony PlayStation 3 to outsell both PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360.
“Given the huge number of hardware systems sold in December, inventory shortages could be the biggest contributor to the softer than expected sales,” said NPD analyst Anita Frazier.
Sales of all four non-portable game consoles available on the U.S. market were very close and totaled 1.037 million units. Approximately 274 thousand Nintendo Wii game consoles were purchased in January, about 269 thousand of gamers acquired Sony PlayStation 3 game system, whereas Sony PlayStation 2 was sold through in 264 thousand units quantity. Microsoft Xbox 360 was the worst sold game console in January with 230 thousand systems purchased.
Portable game consoles also suffered substantial declines in the first month of the year: only 251 thousand Nintendo DS were sold through and only 230 thousand of Sony PlayStation Portable devices were acquired.
Both Microsoft and Nintendo, which hardware sales suffered the biggest decline, attributed poor sales to hardware shortages, which occurred because of the fact that both vendors wanted to sell as much hardware as possible back in December.
“We are really running short of product here in the United States. You could say we misjudged demand. We’re literally out of stock in many stores. […] Retailers have been really upset, they are on allocation. It is a lag I think we’re seeing in January and that may continue into February, then as spring ramps up, we'll be able to meet that demand,” Jeff Bell, head of global marketing for Microsoft’s games business, said in an interview with Reuters news-agency.
“[Our] attempts to get as many Wiis and Nintendo DS systems into stores for the holiday season resulted in being tightly constrained from an in-stock position through the month of January,” said Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime, reports USA Today web-site.
Comments currently: 9
Discussion started: 02/17/08 02:10:47 PM
Latest comment: 05/02/08 08:27:58 PM
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[1-5]
1.
PS3 is the best blu-ray player you can get it seems. It also helped that there are alot of promotions to get a PS3 with an expensive TV and that the Wii and even the 360 have shortages. Microsoft needs to make sure they have enough inventory and they have to get cooler running systems to avoid the costly Red Ring of Death.
[Posted by: Megamanx00 | Date: 02/17/08 02:10:47 PM]
2.
Yes, its the best Blu Ray player out there for the price. My friend's father wants to get one simply because of that fact. You get a Blu Ray player that can play games and surf the net! What more can you ask for? Also, can the PS3 be modded to work as a DVR?
[Posted by: Wingless | Date: 02/18/08 07:59:48 AM]
3.
Now people are realising that PS3 is better. It's a good long term investment but honestly i would like to have them both.
[Posted by: Stalker | Date: 02/19/08 12:24:05 AM]
+ expand thread (4 answers)
- collapse thread
Good long term investment? A console>? I don't think so. I had the very first console the Atari 2600. It was fun while it lasted..........here today gone tomorrow.
[Posted by: unclesharkey | Date: 02/19/08 07:39:48 PM]
I find it amusing that some people (unclesharkey in this case), are quick to make generalisations and assumptions based on how very little they know. Its unfortunate.
Atari's 2600 was a game console, that's it. You can't do much with it other than to play games. I still have the original one from 1977. (wooden front with the 4 toggle switches).
PS3 is a:
(1) game console
(2) Blu-ray player with upgradeable firmware.
(allowing you to support the latest Blu-ray changes in a convenient manner.)
(3) Web browser
(4) A DVR
(when the PlayTV DVB-T dual tuner and software is released later in the year.)
(5) Linux system.
(Just plug in a USB mouse and keyboard)
Once you put Linux on it, you can expand its capabilities: Webserver, file server, basic desktop for email, web, etc.
Maybe a node for a computational cluster?
see here: http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/store/index.php?submit=so tware&submitimg%5Bhardware%5D%5Bsolutions%5D=1
You are strictly limited by the amount of RAM on the PS3 and how optimised the applications are to the Cell processor. (Since its open source, you can understand how things work and re-code/tweak the apps to run better, working around the limitations of the PS3 hardware).
(6) A development platform for the Cell processor as well as a learning tool for parallel programming and parallel architectures.
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/power/library/pa-linuxps -1/
http://cag.csail.mit.edu/ps3/lectures.shtml
(7) Hackers and enthusiasts.
(At this time, Sony won't let you access the RSX for 3D acceleration under Linux. So this is being worked on).
http://forums.ps2dev.org/viewtopic.php?p=59170
"...here today gone tomorrow."
=> A modern day console is developed with the life expectancy for approx 5 to 6 years. Anything longer is a bonus. Look at the PS2. Its STILL being sold today. (almost 8 years since it was first introduced in 2000). The PS3 is intended to last for 10yrs.
Even when its "game console" purpose has long expired, people are bound to use the PS3 for other uses. (once the hackers develop the proper API for video acceleration, a PS3 is perfect for acting as a front-end for MythTV. ie: Linux's equivalent of Windows MCE implementation).
As you can see, a PS3 is a little more than just another "game console".
[Posted by: tumb | Date: 02/19/08 10:39:41 PM]
Still a POS you stupid idiot. In a year it won't be worth dick! There is you good investment. LOLOLLOLOLOLOLOLLOLOLJKKLSADFJweuio r79-4789123y89 rhio[
[Posted by: unclesharkey | Date: 05/02/08 08:27:58 PM]
Investment: the act of investing; laying out money or capital in an enterprise with the expectation of profit. Errr I don't think so. Now buying Sony stocks that might be an investment.
[Posted by: unclesharkey | Date: 02/19/08 07:41:55 PM]
4.
You don't get profit when you invest in a console it just gives you value and satisfaction.
[Posted by: Stalker | Date: 02/20/08 03:43:39 AM]
5.
Why are there Not aplicables on the gamecube surrounding it when the PS3 (Before its release) gets zeros? subliminal bias or have i evolved to a new level of fanboyisim (i know its probably the latter)
[Posted by: Rorkimaru | Date: 02/22/08 08:05:32 AM]
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Sony PlayStation 3 Outsells Predecessor, Xbox 360 for the First Time in the USA – NPD.
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