The launch of the PS3 Slim may have sparked the console’s biggest-selling week ever in Japan, but demand for the system appears to have fallen dramatically after the initial rush, with sales down two-thirds.
The launch of the smaller, cheaper PS3 led to massive increases in sales worldwide, with a particularly impressive spike in Sony’s native turf of Japan – the PS3 Slim sold more than 150,000 units in just three days. It was the PS3’s single best-performing week in its lifetime to date.
Of course, what goes up must come down, and so must PS3 sales. The console has seen a sharp slump in sales if Famitsu publisher Enterbrain is to be believed, falling 90,000 units to a weekly toll of 57,056. It’s not entirely unexpected – the price point was the major sticking point for many people (no matter the region) and with that barrier lowered, it may have been easy to justify picking one up. Now that a large portion of those who were “waiting for the price cut” have picked one up, it’s likely that we’ll still see sales fall over time.
Even though a reduction in sales of 90,000 units is no laughing matter, this isn’t actually as bad for Sony as it sounds. For one thing, sales of 57,000 puts the PS3 squarely in second place behind only the mighty DSi (66,000), and well ahead of the competition (PSP – 19,000; Wii – 14,000). This puts the launch week’s tremendous sales somewhat in perspective – if your sales can fall by almost two-thirds and you’re still selling almost quadruple that of your nearest console rival? That’s a job well done, mate.
Hardware sales for the week ended September 13 (for the two weeks ended September 13):
DSi – 66,416 (125,524)
PS3 – 57,056 (207,888)
PSP – 19,572 (42,117)
Wii – 14,556 (32,643)
DS Lite – 9,206 (14,765)
Xbox 360 – 4,927 (9,541)
PS2 – 3,100 (6,788)
(Via Edge Online)
