PS3 sales soar 178% in the UK – Beats Xbox 360 but not Wii
The PS3 has achieved a sales comeback in the UK over the past week, with figures suggesting Sony enjoyed a 178% upturn in console sales. Whether this is just a temporary blip in the PS3’s fortunes thanks to the introduction of a cheaper 40gb model, or whether they’ve actually turned a corner for good remains to be seen.
Sony announced a new pricing strategy a few weeks ago, and these results are the first indications we have as to whether that policy will turn out to be a good one or not. The new 40gb model of the PS3 launched in the UK last week along with a new bundle of the (soon to be discontinued) 60gb model.
The 40gb model features no backward compatibility for PS2 games two USBs instead of four, and the obviously smaller hard drive. To sweeten the deal though, the price is only £299 ($610). The 60gb model has also been repackaged while they sell off the remaining stock, being called the ‘Value Pack’ and featuring two games and one controller. That package also sees a price cut to £349 ($720).
The PS3 was sat in third place last week in total console sales, still comfortably behind the Nintendo DS and Wii, but beating the Microsoft Xbox 360 by quite a margin. Sony enjoyed their third biggest hardware sales week ever, beaten only by the first two weeks the console went on sale in the UK back in March.
