Sony Aims to Increase PS4 Install Base;Predictions Conservative Due to Competitors Holiday Marketing

During Sony's earnings call for investors and analysts it was explained that Sony aims to increase the PS4's installed base, while predictions for the second half of the year are conservatives due to restructuring costs and holiday promotion from competitors.

[TheLyonKing]

Seems fair. They know what they are doing and have a clear long term plan for the whole company.

As long as they keep hype going and bring out the games they will have no.trouble expanding their install base.

[TheWatercooler]

It's fantastic numbers. Wasn't Microsofts Q2 numbers similar but they had to combine both xbone and x360 and they where also shipped?

[killacal13]

Indeed.

[majiebeast]

15 million is very conservative. 17-18 million is really not out of the realm of possibility here, with the strong EU market and all.

Microsoft is really only being competitive in the US and to some extension in the UK.

399$ GTA V bundle in the US, would be a nice counter to Microsoft's 349$ Xbox One deal.

[BitbyDeath]

It's currently tracking above Wii which had 20 million sold by years end.

[majiebeast]

Just being conservative and the impact of Microsoft's bomba price in the US. Another 4-5million shipped is really not bad so that would be 17-18million.

[timlot]

Wii was supply constrained for months. I can go down to the 24hr Walmart and pick up PS4 any time of day.

[Yahdaree]

Sony thinks that 17m is a conservative number for PS4's sold by years end... that is incredible. So it could be 19 or 20 depending.

[BarneyS]

I agree, it's weird that they haven't anounced the gta bundle for the us. Besides that, I don't think the PS4 will lose much momentum in the US. Despite the agressive marketing from MS. And MS practically gave up on the rest of the world with their US only pricecut. So Sony will probably lose the holiday season to MS in the US, but not by a large margin. But they can easily maintain their position in the rest of the world.

[killacal13]

@ timlot

I can smell the fear!

[Walker]

Sony and PS4 will dominate this generation with a HUGE gap !

[torchic]

which is good for all. Microsoft will hopefully drop Xbox One to $299 for Holiday 2015 (^.^) and that's when I'll get one

[keki]

Dont think sony ever lost a fight agianst microsoft

[mhunterjr]

I don't think Sony would agree with you. THE REASON Sony was so aggressive with the PS4 reveal, hardware, and pricing is because they lost So much ground last gen. Running a business is more than having the highest unit sales.

Sony went from having 80% of the marketshare, and DOMINATING software sales with the PS2 to having Just 30% of the marketshare and conceding the software lead to MS...meanwhile, MS grew their marketshare by 20%, at Sony's expense. only those who lack an understatement of how business works would call that a victory for Sony.

[Shad0wRunner]

^ He's right, ya know...

[donthate]

I remember when Sony used to make fun of the Xbox brand publicly. Now, MS is a serious competitor that Sony is actually mimicking to the point of even adopting Xbox' business model.

[joeorc]

@mhunterjr
That would be true if you only count just the ps3 vs the xbox360 to calculate market share. Sony made more consoles than just the ps3 add in PS2, psp, and the market share for Microsoft only having just the xbox360 also proves Microsoft's % being a chunk they stole from Sony being more split between Nintendo and Microsoft with Nintendo taking more of the share.

Mind share is really the only place you could truly say Microsoft took a larger share away from Sony but as for market share no.

the worse thing is now Microsoft will be back to one system as the xbox360 gets phased out and both Nintendo and Sony will still have more systems in the retail chain because it will still be Nintendo with the most number of systems @5 unique systems, Sony @ 4 unique systems while Microsoft@ 1 until they release another to put out past Xbox one. Than Microsoft will be @ 2 unique systems again.

[mhunterjr]

@joeorc

Man, Sony executives aren't in the business of skewing sales data to make it look like their performance was better than it was...there in this to make money, not feel good bar graphs

Their PS3 sales were MASSIVE drop off from their ps2 sales.
They lost their title as leader in software sales and hardware sales
Their free online network, cost them $1 billion after a security flaw, while their competitor was making money with theirs.
They lost their position as the console of choice for multiplats.
Their handheld flopped tremendously

There is no one at Sony who felt happy about what they did last gen. Anyway you look at it, they lost A TON of market share. Selling a few thousand more ps3s than 360s is a TINY consolation prize considering how much they lost to get there. That's why they made sure to hit the ground running this gen. And the number of 'unique systems' is a useless stat.

[pompous]

And that literally all came down to MS releasing their console a whole year and 1.5 yrs earlier. If they released the same time or really close to each other MS wouldn't have had the 360 sales they do.. People just didn't want to wait for Sony's HD console.

[Chevalier]

"MS grew their marketshare by 20%, at Sony's expense. only those who lack an understatement of how business works would call that a victory for Sony. "

Understatement? Understanding you mean?

Conveniently you forget the year head start and how many units that were sold were for RROD? I have had a significant amount of customers and friends who have owned 3-7 units. Without the true numbers from MS how is anybody supposed to believe your statements? Year head start as well helped too didn't it? Your making your statement without those facts so I fail to see how that helps your argument.

Just look at how much they're getting outsold right now? Without according to most Xbox fans any 'exclusives'. If that's how much they're getting killed 'without' exclusives then wait till the exclusives start coming out then.

I'd wait another year before you can truly assess the market. As it is now currently 6 million Xbox Ones out their isn't really a good enough reason to be excited about. Considering Sony has the market lead in consoles sold almost 2:1 and leading in 3rd party sales as well.

[mhunterjr]

@pompous

All those 'IF' scenarious mean nothing. Last Gen happend and its over. Sony may not have been Last in total units Sold, but they lost in many other ways. Like most businesses, there are a plethora of other metrics that matter. Sony learned from Last Gen, and it shows in the current success.

@chevalier

I didn't forget anything. the year head start helped Microsoft. That's why Sony made sure to launch earlier and in more countries than MS. They are reacting to something they failed with last gen. Sony isn't making any excuses, they are systematically fixing their failures. Why do you want to make excuses for them? As far as my 'assessment of the market' I'm not sure you understand the points I'm making.

Fact: Sony took a massive step back last gen in terms of their market position.

While Sony fanboys are gloating about how "Sony never lost to MS", Sony has been acknowledging all the ways they DID lose to MS (launch date, launch price, online service, multiplat performance, 3rd party partnerships, etc) and using that knowledge to deliver a great product. It just goes to show you how out of touch fanboys are from how business actually works.

[Chevalier]

I understand your points are based on missing sales data and is not a true representation of Xbox sales. Results are skewed by massive RROD replacements though and you suggest people here have no idea how business works and imply that you do? Your suggesting without a huge chunk of data like that missing is how to correctly assess sales?!

Please post exact percentages of how many millions of units were RROD replacements then and please enlighten us then. Businesses make their assessments after having ALL the facts or a large amount enough to make correct choices. A huge chunk of missing data like RROD skews their numbers considerably.

Fact Xbone is losing in EVERY market
Fact PS4 has more software and 3rd party sales.
Fact Xbox has about 64% of sales in just 2 countries (U.S. and U.K) which kills your 'more' countries comment. Xbox launched in the 13 most important markets which are the lions share of their sales last gen accounting for 90% of their sales.
Fact it took 2 countries at launch for PS4 to get 1 million sales whereas Xbone only managed the same feat releasing in 13 countries simultaneously.

Last gen MS did great capitalizing on Sony missteps in pricing in market, year late, etc. But I believe that without RROD and year head start with lower price they sold a lot less impressively then you suggest.

[mhunterjr]

@chevalier

No you are missing my points entirely. Do you thin Sony looked at last gen and says "hey don't worry, we only lost ground if you forget to account for RROD"

NO! They said "why the hell are consumers choosing to buy multiple defective 360's instead of getting a PS3". The percentages you ask for are irrelevant... every time someone repurchased an Xbox 360 it amounted to a missed opportunity for Sony. And Sony understands that. You apparently don't.

The point I'm making is that Sony learned from clear "losses" in their competition with MS. This time around Sony 1) Beat MS to launch 2) regained 3rd party leadership 3) invested in their online infrastructure. The reason they are kicking MS' ass now is because they learned from their mistakes last gen.

[jrshankill]

I hope you are referring to their respective gaming divisions. Sony, as a corporation, have projected losses around $2.5 Billion next year.

MS is profitable as a whole.

Edit : Torchic if you really have nothing to add then don't bother. You can roll your eyes all you want, it is not hard to find information regarding Sony's pretty dire situation.

donthate, yup, 100% correct. Sony is killing it with PS4 but their business model surrounding their other products has not worked for years.

[torchic]

*rolls eyes*

[donthate]

MS as a whole earns enough money to buy out Sony in around 2.5 years.

MS earn several billions every quarter, but Sony's situation is quite dire and not improving at all. What else is Sony going to cut?

They already cut everything, and sold everything.

It is scary when the Playstation division is propping up the company!

Playstation might not drag down the company anymore, but the rest of the company is now dragging down Playstation.

[Silly gameAr]

You guys are like youtube commenters. "The situation doesn't matter because this guy has more money then the other guy and that's all that matters."

That's you guys.

Must really suck for Sony to still be a billion dollar company and have other sections that are doing well other then gaming. Sucks for them.

[Angeljuice]

"MS as a whole earns enough money to buy out Sony in around 2.5 years. "

If you take Windows out of the picture MS would have gone bankrupt many times over. They fail to make money at virtually everything they do that isn't connected to Windows. They're a one-trick pony.

How long can that model last?

[pompous]

LOL.. I love it. Just like politicians MS fans have no ammo so they find negative shit unrelated to what is being discussed to better their argument. Can't use their own merits so they have to find something negative...

[Thatguy-310]

Love how they're being honest. I hate to admit it but Microsoft is offering an amazing deal and wouldn't be surprised if they sell a lot of units throughout the holiday. I want to see these next two months fly by to see if people actually buy them now. If they don't then Microsoft can forget about changing peoples minds. PS4 literally isn't doing anything and they're selling at an amazing rate.

[spacedelete]

i'm a PS4 owner but want the Xbox One to sell better now so in turn Sony tries harder to impress us. we need better PlayStation plus games.

[torchic]

you won't get the really good PS+ games on PS4 til maybe late 2015 no matter what Microsoft do

[Immorals]

Would you rather Sony spend most of the ps plus money on bigger games, or spend it on bulking up their online infrastructure..?

[lnfiniteLoop]

needs to increase quantity and improve the quality of PSN servers before they consider getting a bigger install base...

[PrinceOfAllSaiyans]

Wtf does that got to do with anything ?

[Fkhalf16]

If I were them, they should announce GTAV bundle for US, surely SCEA have something in mind to give the BIGGEST gaming market to be excited for these holidays.

[Predaking77]

This is the reason Microsoft is quite about their sales. It will be humiliating to public their sales when they don't even surpass the Wii U.

On the other hand, Sony has always been a leader in the industry, winning 2 generations consecutively, they have the best selling console in history (PS2) and they will probably win this generation too.

By contrast, this is Microsoft third console, they have never won any console generation and they have ended third in each one.

You can have all the money in the world, but it takes more than that to win as Sony has proved.

[HentaiMasterRace]

Work on helping the Vita as well.