SCEA almost responds to lackluster January NPD results

Andrew Yoon writes - Sony's PS3 slump continues. The high price of the PS3, coupled with a weak economy, has proven a one-two punch against Sony's current home console. PS3 sold 203k units in North America in the month of January. While this may sound good, a look at 2008's results shows a grim trend for Sony. While both the Wii and Xbox 360 have gained momentum from 2008 to 2009, PS3 has actually dropped down.

Things may change for Sony, especially with another year of fantastic exclusives planned for the system. Peter Dille, SVP of Marketing, ignores the January NPD results entirely and instead looks towards the future. "The PlayStation brand experienced a record year in sales in 2008 and we have every reason to believe our blockbuster line up combined with PS3's position as the best Blu-ray player and most sophisticated entertainment device out there, will continue to fuel increased marketshare and momentum into 2009. We've truly upped the ante this year with an unmatched software lineup ahead, kickstarting with the much anticipated and platform-moving title Killzone 2 later this month. We're the only company to offer three viable platforms today and will continue to deliver a seamless and comprehensive entertainment experience to our customers for many years to come."

It's true that PS3 does many things: it's a great games player, a sophisticated Blu-ray player, and has free access to the PlayStation Network. However, will consumers respond to that message? Only time will tell.

[Killzonegamer84]

So if PS3 sales are "lackluster" where does that leave 360 sales considering the 360 cheap SKU is a whole $200.00 cheaper then the PS3 and even the good 60gb sku is only $299.99 and STILL cant manage to dominate the PS3 in sales, only outsold it by 100 thousand?! But but but i thought teh 360 had teh Halo and teh Halo wars and teh Gears and teh teh GTA IV dlc.

My point is this, if the 360 is so great and mighty how come its not killing the PS3 in terms of sales when its half the price and not only that but getting KILLED by the wii with the wii even having crappy games for the most part and even $50.00 more expensive!!!!

So back to my question, if PS3 sales are "lackluster" where does that leave 360 sales?!

[Simon_Brezhnev]

u know they had to write a doom article it been a while should be more around killzone release date

[Chicken Chaser]

damn!!... I'm getting dizzy from all that spinning! Some one make him stop!

[pswi60]

if they keep focusing on sales, maybe gamers will forget about Sony's lineup for 2009....

January 2007 360 sales = 294,000
January 2008 360 sales = 230,000 (-22%)
January 2009 360 sales = 309,000

Looks like the 360 had a slump before its' price cut while the economy was still in good shape, but these journalists have a hard on for the ps3

[heroicjanitor]

It is a fact that we are in a recession and ps3 is twice as expensive. Sony can't afford to drop their own price because of the stronger yen. Seems like everything is working against Sony.

[Sitdown]

The same argument you use to fuel your argument, can be the same argument to cripple your argument. Yes, there is a 360 SKU that is at $199.99, but all those numbers are not from that SKU....so unless you know the percentage of cores to premium to elite...it is sort of hard for you to use that argument. Yeah, you might say that it was "only outsold it by 100 thousand"...but guess what...when you look at the bank, I am pretty sure Microsoft does not mind that extra hundred thousand.

You make the statement "My point is this, if the 360 is so great and mighty how come its not killing the PS3 in terms of sales when its half the price and not only that but getting KILLED by the wii with the wii even having crappy games for the most part and even $50.00 more expensive!!!!"

First...if the 360 is being "killed" by the Wii.....does that mean that the ps3 is being massacred by it? That tends to be the default with ps3 fans...when they can't combat the fact that the 360 has sold better than the ps3...they bring in the Wii...and then all the other times they discount the wii and say it is not next gen. I say make up your mind....do not bring the Wii into the equation only when it is convenient. Consider this...despite the different in price, the 360 is a year older (which means it should be closer to reaching is market potential) and according to most, does not have the games that the ps3 does...but some how, it still finds itself having sold a 100,000 more than the newer ps3 with so much more functionality....not forget the free psn.

[Death]

Last gen the PS2 outsold the Xbox by 7 to 1. This generation the Xbox 360 is still ahead in worldwide sales after 3 years. I'm not sure how this could be anymore of a "win" up to this point. Oh wait, maybe I can, the other distant competitior from last gen is so far ahead in sales they are no longer even considered competition.

-Death

[Danja]

well TBH I wasn't expecting the PS3 to even crack 200k....

The harsh economic situation is really working against Sony this Gen....The Ps3 is still putting up good numbers for having such a steep price point...so late in it's life cycle....yes they did fall short of last year sales..but to make it seem as if they are doing really bad compared to last January is just complete ignorance...they just sold..

The 360 is still coming off a price cut..higher Yearly sales..was to be expected.....doesn't take a genius to figure that out...

The Wii is just running and not looking back...well done ninetndo..

[Powertesties]

Everyone needs to step back from the fanboyism and look at what these journalist are saying. They are not being 'fanboys' and bashing the PS3, they are taking a step back, looking at the numbers and giving a look at the standing of the Playstation Brand.

I am a Playstation owner, PS3, PSP, PS2, etc but I know that Sony isn't ruling the world right now. The system is expensive and the AAA titles have been far and in between.

Listen people, I am not saying the PS3 sucks or that it lacks good titles. MGS, Drakes F, LBP, R2 and the etc. More killer titles are in the works and I know that as well.

Simply put, the numbers do not lie! Even Killzone 2 hasn't received enough pre-orders to even have a midnight launch; Everyone, GO RESERVES!

Sony needs to drop the price to compete in this economy. They also need to do some improvements on the PSN and the interface. Core features need to be addressed and I have faith they will be. Features such as the new photo addition are nice but not what Sony needs to focusing on right now.

One important aspect that needs to be addressed immediately, and I am not alone on this is the voice communications over the PSN. How this can be done is beyond me since most users use Bluetooth and not UBS mics, but voice over the PSN is terrible. All 15 of my close friends, who are PS3 owners mind you, can hardly have a conversation while playing games. Everyone sounds like they are in a freaking tin can. It is beyond terrible. I understand that bluetoooth plays a big part in this but that isn't the only reason. Sony has a role in this as well. Even with USB mics the communication can be lousy, better, but lousy.

Ok, so no more rambling on. Sony, you need to get in Gear if you want this generation. You have the IPs, the network, the system and you can do it. It simply needs more effort and improvement. Simple as that.

[Real Gambler]

"They are not being 'fanboys' and bashing the PS3"

Please, find any other article about toasters, dvd players, LCD monitors, using the word "lackluster" for selling 200,000 units in January, during these hard economic times...

Trust me, all those businesses, that are currently closing down, would like to get those "lackluster" january sales, particularly for such an expensive item... Selling 200,000 boxes at $400 to $500 a box, I would rather use "impressive" january sales, but that's only me! Selling 100 million worth of "boxes" in January is not lackluster, it's just a LOT of money moving pockets in hard times.

They also say: "a look at 2008's results shows a grim trend for Sony"... Well, they could have added: "but SAME thing happened to the 360, on their second year, from 2007 to 2008, and look what a price cut did for 2009!" Isn't that a more positive note? But that would not bring in those precisous hits.

So sure, it's not a fanboy article, but it's definitively designed to get some hits!!! And this is sad.

[Powertesties]

I understand how you can say that. 200,000 units is a lot and I completely believe it. What you are forgetting is that a toaster, DVD players and etc companies are actually making a profit for each item sold. Sony is in a bad position. Profits from all divisions are pretty poor. Sales are less and less as each month goes on.

It is what it is.

But listen man, I love Sony and I want them to rock. Simply, these articles are not written to harm the PS3. That is so funking ridiculous. haha

[JokesOnYou]

"So back to my question, if PS3 sales are "lackluster" where does that leave 360 sales?!"

uhm, about 100,000 better than lackluster

JOY

[pswi60]

if you're not first, you're last

[UnSelf]

if it isnt profit, its revenue

enjoy ur revenue microsoft

[socomnick]

heh nice comment joy. Seriously though who cares if sony is 3rd, i dont get get sony fans are so defensive, what if the ps3 remains 3rd this entire generation will that have such a significant impact on your life. Seriously ? just enjoy your games and ignore the fact that sony will remain 3rd.

[cmrbe]

that a .1 million increase over competition is good but financially i belive the xbox division is suffering alot more than the SCE division.

If say each x360 SKU sold 100k each. This would amount to about 80 million in revenue for hardware alone which SCEA managed to get with just 200k PS3 at $400 each.

MS had to produce 100k extra x360 and sell and advertise them just to get the same revenue as SCEA did with just producing and selling 200k PS3.

I am looking at sales right now because of the financial crisis. Right now profiability is extremely important for each console holder and indirectly us gamers.

[Death]

Microsoft is making money on the hardware where Sony is just starting to break even. Revenue is important but not as important as profit. If you sell something for less than it costs to make it, you are going in the wrong direction. The profits from the PS2 and PSP are what has been financing the PS3's losses which is why the games division hasn't posted an annual profit in over 3 years. Microsofts games division on the other hand is posting a profit. If revenue was king, the Playstation brand would be at the top. Unfortunately profit is the key to success.

-Death

[Danja]

How about we wait for M$ to posy there last fiscal earnings after the price cut b4 we start yelling that they are now making money off hardware....

yes they made earnings on the hardware last year...but that was b4 they drastically reduced there prices...

[Death]

They had a $50 cut in 2007 and another $50 in 2008. The Xbox 360 retails for a whopping $100 less today than it did at launch in 2005. I would hope manufacturing costs have come down enough this late into the game.

-Death

[shocky16]

Very true Death, the cost has gone down $100 dollers in 3 years and people still think this is a lot?, think about it when PS3 come out it was 599 dollers, now the price is 399. Now who's the one taking drastic price changes?

Oh and Danja you can't put a spin on what Death just said so don't even bother, kid.

[panasonic23]

translation we getting are a## kick by the competition giggity have no fear we still the console king giggity wii is not competition the ps3 is cheaper then the 360 harddrive $100 live $50.

[pswi60]

funny how MS has to say the same thing, as they are getting their @ss kicked against the Wii as well

[GiantEnemyLobster]

Now THATS what I call lackluster sales. Man the PS3 can't sell worth a darn.

[GEESE]

The economy is crap. The ps3 is expensive. Yet it still sells.
Go play gears of slowdown, and be content with your own loud, dvd playing, hardware failing console and we will do just fine with our ps3's.
Is all good.
The Wii TROUNCES the 360, does that make it better?

[cmrbe]

are not taking into account some major factors from last year compare to this year.

Factor 1. Blu-ray won when WB switched to Blu before then end of 2007. This helped the sales of the PS3 in Jan 08.

Factor 2. The NA is in really bad shape and this puts the PS3 at a bigger disadvantage being the most expensive console on the market.

Yes the x360 saw an increase compare to Jan 08 but people must realise that the x360 is $100 cheaper now compare to Jan 08 so obviously it should sell more.

Look guys. What i am saying is that people are taking numbers at face value without factoring in factors that clearly affected these numbers. Say for example the PS3 saw a price drop in Dec 08. Are we to expect the PS3 to sell the same in Jan 09 as it was in Jan 08?. Hell no it should sell more but non of this happened.

[Death]

The $50 price cut took the system down to $299 in the fall.

-Death

[yojoe26]

you know what I'm gonna be doing while all the 360 fanboys are wringing their hands every single month, and crunching numbers to make sure that their beloved 360 is still winning in sales? I'm gonna be playing Killzone 2, quite possibly the best shooter ever made. Then I'm gonna be gearing up for summer and fall releases like inFamous, White Knight Chronicles, Uncharted 2, and DC Online. Have fun number-crunching and reading sales charts. Peace!!

[Sitdown]

I am pretty sure 360 fans will still be able to play Halo 3, the next COD, Gears 2....you know, still enjoying great games like they have been since launch. In reality though, I feel like it is ps3 owners that are crunching numbers harder than 360 owners....cause 360 owners at this point are not trying to justify the price point of their console. As far as me...apart from Halo 3 and Gears 2...I will be enjoying bluray until SF IV and then GOW 3 and Uncharted 2. Ohh and maybe Flowers...I have not looked into it, but that game looks intriguing.

[Sez]

thats funny. i thought i would be playing So4,halo wars,GTA4 DLC,SFIV,RE5 and a few other games. while your just playing KZ2. have fun. because i know i will be. peace

[ultimolu]

That's funny vega because I seem to recall games like Quantum Theory, INfamous, and others coming out this year. And keep in mind some of the games you mentioned are multiplatform.

So PS3 fans can enjoy those and KZ2.

[Solidsnakex23]

most of the games u said r multiplat. Also u should go back to gamestop and buy back your copy of GTA for the dlc u will enjoy for an extra 20 hours yay. I bet u really are happy about that line up LOL. Be a gamer and enjoy games and buy a ps3, u get the best of both worlds

[hippo24]

This is borderline Idiotic.
How do you continue to argue over a a game lineup for this year when almost none of the games have come out, and a large portion havent even been announced.

[gumgum99]

Joystiq is taking these sales too seriously.

A 60,000 drop of sales, and its bad news, eh?

[kewlkat007]

If you were a shareholder what would you think about your bottom line?

[DJ]

No, not really. The drop's completely expected, as you look at the economic situation and the fact that 360 just got a price cut to $199. So long as PS3 is sold at a profit and continues to sell more games than the competition (which has been the situation for the past year) there's no reason to complain.

If they can continue to sell 500K units a month (globally) at the current $399 price point, then more power to them. Right now, Microsoft is the one getting all the heat for not outselling the PS3 last year.

[Ghyst]

No one cares about sales when ps3 has the better games now, and in the future, xbox has nothing coming, ps3 has many many great games coming, killzone 2 is here in less than a month, so tell me, why should i care about sales in january the slowest month of the year... 100,000 different? wtf lol, who cares. they still have no games.

It's probably people buying replacement arcade versions, as their warranty is up on the crapbox 360

[sharpened sense]

All i know is with all the awesome ps3 games coming this year i think this might be the first year i don't get any 360 games.

[Space_cancer]

It´s the fvcking sales again. Could not care less.

How about playing some games and having fun? Where the fck is left the basic idea of gaming? People having some good times with friends?

Not here in N4G.

Seriously guys.

[air1]

@cmreb 2.4

i may be wrong but sony doesnt make money on the ps3 yet. micro is making money on the 360 and the software halo3 alone sold how many copies? how many ppl pay 50 bucks a year for live? this is a great gen for all 3 consoles especially the wii for right now, i think. sony has a 10 year plan i know they will make crazy money by the time they quit on the ps3.

all 3 are and will make lots of money this gen some just quicker then others.

[sak500]

Bu but teh bluray won, MGs4, lbp, R2, home came out???? Ok i know just wa waait till kz2, FFxiii (2011), GOW3 (2010), GT5 (2011)

[XDF]

WOw, even in defeat, PS3 hopeful still fight to the very end. 300 anyone?

Why does everytime a bad article that fully has stats and numbers to backed up the claim, the SDF always bring in KZ2 and their future lineup as a scapegoat. 106K is still 106K. That number will not change for a while.

So tell me after a little boost from KZ2 in Feb, what exclusive game or games does the PS3 have between March - Aug that will make people get it over a cheaper system with more games and better advertising.

But I have a PS3 and it is a great system, but the truth is what it is. PS3 is not in good shape ATM.

[kosovo]

as if i care.
KZ2 pls.

[redsquad]

The PS3 console is still there in the shops along with plenty of excellent games, ergo it isn't dead or dying any time soon, ergo I don't care what articles get posted.

[BIGBOSS08]

lol people dont expect the 360 to sell more when its $200 cheaper? im sure most of use were expecting a 2 to 1 difference, not a farty 100k difference which equals to only 25k a week, which is made up from japan and europe sales anyway.

[shocky16]

It's getting ridiculous, "oh MS had a price cut here and there"

Think about this

FACT 1: MS has only cut the price by $100 since the 360 was released.

FACT 2: Sony has cut the price of the PS3 by $200, and don't give me any crap about different SKUS.

[The Judderman]

Maybe ps3 users should just trade there Ps3's in and put Sony out of there misery. Its just embarrasing.

[goldline18]

If you do some math and add up NPD sales

ps2 101,000 units sold at 130 dollars each= 13,130,000 dollars

psp 172,000 units sold at 170 dollars each= 29,240,000 dollars

ps3 203,000 units sold at 400 dollars each= 81,200,000 dollars

PLAYSTATION TOTAL SALES FOR MONTH OF JAN 09 123,570,000 dollars
----------------------------- ------------------------------ - -----
xbox 360 303,000 units sold at 400 dollars each= 121,000,000 dollars

XBOX 360 TOTAL SALES FOR MONTH OF JAN 09= 121,000,000 dollars
----------------------------- ------------------------------ - -----

Even with Playstation sales down all around the board Playstation outsells xbox every month. Also if you noticed i took the cheapest boxed unit for all of Playstation systems, and i took the HIGHEST priced boxed unit the 360 elite for the xbox system. Even at that xbox fails to outsell the Playstation. And i know not everybody buys 360 elites so xbox at most sells 121 million in sales and Playstation sells 123 million in sales at the least. Playstation is very smart in my eyes they support all of there loyal users new or old with the ps2 psp and ps3, were as xbox they just stop supporting all there loyal users of the past with the original xbox, when 360 released within a few months there was absolutely no original xbox games released. Im not trying to spark fanboy wars or anything just trying to stop people from saying that Playstation is going under and wont last very long before it hits rock bottom or will go out of business because of lackluster ps3 sales!!! In my eyes Playstation is the clear winner here!!!! I will always support playstation becasue they will always support all there users with 3 systems no matter how much money you have you can buy some kind of a playstation system.Unlike xbox who just abandoned alot of there users who could not affored the new xbox 360 system when it came out!!

[Fakes]

Ps3 will outsell 360 this gen.Ten years is still far away and i wonder if dvd will still be around during that time.