Sony sees PlayStation 3 sales skyrocket 56%, Blu-ray a factor?

by Darren Murph posted Nov 15th 2008 at 10:30AM

Despite the weakening economy, video game sales across the board have remained impressively high. Now that each of the big three have reported their Q3 figures, we found Sony's report in particular worthy of critique. Sure, Nintendo moved more Wiis last quarter than Sony did PS3s, and Microsoft sold about twice as many Xbox 360s, but that's beside the point. The most expensive console on the market (by far) still managed to see a 56% sales increase year-over-year, which is pretty remarkable in and of itself. We've no hard evidence suggesting that Blu-ray's victory in the format war helped escalate its sales, but would you be willing to bet that it did? C'mon, the PS3 was widely regarded as the best Blu-ray player in its price range for a solid while there, surely that helped out Sony somewhat -- no? Chime in with your analysis below.

Filed under: Industry, Blu-ray, Other hardware, Players, Sony

Tags: bd, blu-ray, blu-ray adoption, Blu-rayAdoption, console, economy, game console, GameConsole, gaming, gaming console, GamingConsole, playstation 3, Playstation3, ps3, sales, sony

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

Happyhappyjoyjoy @ Nov 15th 2008 11:00AM

3rd party independent reports might be believable.

I wouldn't believe a word Sony's PR machine said.

Highest Ranked

Patrick @ Nov 15th 2008 11:14AM

People might be realizing what an impressive machine the PS3 is. With HDTV penetration steadily growing, there are enough gamers out there who are interested in Blu-ray. Plus, the PS3 game library has been steadily growing over the last year. Yes it's the most expensive of the three, but dollar-for-dollar it's still the best value (Blu-ray, wi-fi, etc.) Plus, I think that Sony really is committed to their machine for a ten-year cycle...you can hardly say that of the other two.

And for the record, I own all three systems.

Neutral

SITEiNK @ Nov 16th 2008 4:55AM

Before I purchased a PS3 I didn't really realize that it is indeed one of the single most impressive media computing devices around. The PS3 is certainly a technological marvel. Combine movies, games, media streaming, internet browsing, and a plethora of other functions and it is hard to pass up if you are truly an unbiased person.
Now, I have had tons of issues with Sony gear in the past and I for one can understand a (anti-Sony) person's trepidation with this product. I no longer have any other Sony gear in my home and I don't plan on purchasing any more (perhaps anther PS3 though), but the PS3 is an item everyone would get a lot of use out of in their arsenal of media gear - even if they don't play games, or even if they aren't interested in Blu-ray.

http://www.ROCKandREVIEW.com/

Highly Ranked

SITEiNK @ Nov 17th 2008 4:20PM

I own all three systems too, and I can unequivocally say that I (and my entire household) get the most use out of the PS3, even though I have lots of media and games for the other systems.
The PS3 is also one of the easiest systems to use.

http://www.ROCKandREVIEW.com/

Lowest Ranked

Happyhappyjoyjoy @ Nov 15th 2008 11:18AM

The usual Sony PR spin to counteract bad press

"Xbox 360 and Wii show sharp sales gains, PS3 may be in trouble"
http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/40204/113/

Neutral

xtr @ Nov 15th 2008 11:39AM

a 56% sales increase year-over-year is GREAT.Good job SONY

Highly Ranked

WebDev511 @ Nov 15th 2008 11:53AM

Nice increase in volume. If new buyers are anything like myself, they bought it as a Blu-Ray player (and hate the Sony remote) and happened to pickup some games too.

Now that stand alone players (that can be flashed to profile 2.0 like Sony's own BDP-350) can be had for nearly $100 less, we should see a clear line between people buying a PS3 as a Blu-Ray player vs a stand alone.

Heck, if I hadn't finally locked down the LPCM audio setup between my PS3 and receiver, I might have even picked up a BDP-350 for $179 on Black Friday just so I could bitstream lossless audio.

Any bets on all consumer sales numbers being sharply down for Q4 08?

Low Ranked

The Aggie CEO @ Nov 15th 2008 12:09PM

yea Blu-ray helped a bit.........but I believe its also the fact that the PS3 has MORE games out now than last year......

Highly Ranked

crawdad62 @ Nov 15th 2008 12:33PM

I bought my PS3 for the BD player. Surprisingly I use it a lot less for watching movies than I thought. I'm really loving the games. I figured my kid would be into it (which he is) but I'm hooked too. LBP and WipeoutHD are getting quite a workout.

Highly Ranked

Josh @ Nov 15th 2008 12:35PM

The only reason the PS3's sales were up so much was because the PS3's sales in 2007 were ABYSMAL!

In October 2007, they only sold 121,000 PS3s in the US. Compare that to 366,000 XBox 360s sold in October 2007.

The PS3 had nowhere to go BUT up! To try to attribute this to some amazing blu-ray sales surge doesn't really make sense.

Highest Ranked

aaron @ Nov 15th 2008 2:38PM

agreed.... its getting trounced compared to the other consoles. sure its helping bluray some but its also KILLING sony at the same time.

Highest Ranked

FreeRange @ Nov 15th 2008 12:41PM

Okay, so this October 2007 versus October 2008 "The PS3 in particular enjoyed a 56 percent year-over-year monthly unit sales increase."

Mid way through last October, word dropped that a 40GB $399 Playstation would be introduced on Oct 28. Perhaps that slowed sales last year? I know I abruptly decided to hold off on any purchases (though I never pulled the trigger anyway). http://www.engadget.com/2007/10/16/40gb-playstation-3-shows-up-in-us-target-for-399/

Oct 2007 was a time of higher priced PS3s and the format war causing uncertainty. Oct 2008 has less expensive systems, far more games and Blu-Ray as the format war winner. I wouldn't say factors in `08 made `08 successful so much as factors in `07 made `07 weak.

Low Ranked

Happyhappyjoyjoy @ Nov 15th 2008 12:49PM

Nothing but spin.

PS3 market share is at an 11mth low.

Congratulations.

Good job Sony.

Highly Ranked

Happyhappyjoyjoy @ Nov 15th 2008 1:26PM

Why no PS3 price-cut?

Published: October 29, 2008
TOKYO — Sony reported a 72 percent drop in profit in the most recent quarter on Wednesday

That drove Sony’s shares to a 16-year low on Monday

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/30/technology/companies/30sony.html?em

Highest Ranked

nick @ Nov 15th 2008 1:52PM

Sure, sales in 2008 are above 2007, but 2007 sales were nothing to boost about. A bunch of big ticket games were recently released for the PS3, but oddly hardware sales have not increased. They're pretty much flat. I think Sony is suffering from the economy, and being the most expensive console on the market.

Low Ranked

Average @ Nov 15th 2008 9:24PM

Sales will still be better than the 360 worldwide , yet neither are putting up wii sales on there charts.

Neutral

anti-fanboy @ Nov 15th 2008 9:32PM

Very funny.

PS3 trails the XBox 360 everywhere, both in total sales since launch and in current monthly sales.

Stop lying.

Highest Ranked

UnnDunn @ Nov 15th 2008 2:47PM

Seriously? This is the best pro-PS3 spin you could come up with? Last November, PS3 sales were DISMAL. 56% growth compared to last year merely brings it up to where Xbox 360 was last year. That's nothing to celebrate.

Neutral

Carney @ Nov 24th 2008 4:18PM

You're forgetting product lifecycle. The PS3 got into the game much later.

Neutral

clara @ Nov 15th 2008 2:49PM

Well, the prices for the Cell chip and Blu-ray player (well, the laser/pickup) have come down considerably, plus it's christmas soon.

More importantly, Sony and its entwined studios are making a big push for Blu-Ray and the PS3 has always been the most attractive way to buy a BD player --- if you're saving money by the combination. Of course conversely, this means that people may not don't see the value of the BD player by itself.

Neutral

LB @ Nov 15th 2008 3:32PM

If you need a Bluray player and want a game system then wyhy not get a PS3.

Good Bluray players are around this year though for less than PS3. Mix all the variables with a bad economy and who knows. The bad economy could slow down the move to over to Bluray.

Neutral

YouFaceTheTick @ Nov 15th 2008 7:36PM

I was interested in the PS3 as a BR player save for the stupid bluetooth remote and my experience with the device as loud, hot-running and incapable of playing anything. I returned my PS3 - don't play video games .

I'll wait for the Samsung BD-P to offer HD Netflix streaming or the Roku to offer it. Roku makes the most sense as the likelihood of BR sticking around is pretty remote.

Highly Ranked

LonnieDvD @ Nov 15th 2008 7:46PM

About 80% of people buy the PS3 for Blu-Ray, no doubt about it. Most gamers go with the 360 or the wii.

Neutral

Brad Clarke @ Nov 15th 2008 8:01PM

@LoonieDvD: Where do you come up with these numbers? why not say 80.95564654% ? Dont pull numbers out your head.

Highly Ranked

3dpenguin @ Nov 15th 2008 9:09PM

You guys do realize that if a company sold 100k units in one quarter and the next they sell 200k their sales increased by 100% right, when you're not selling enough units its not hard to show an increase of 50-100%, the only positive that can be figured from this is at least the sales aren't showing above 100%, what this means is their sales have hit a point where it isn't increasing exponentially each quarter because of lack of sales the previous quarter.

Highly Ranked

LonnieDvD @ Nov 15th 2008 10:58PM

Whoops, I forgot to say that 80% number is my personal estimate. The PS3 is more expensive than the 360, but it has only a fraction of the games that the 360 has. Only a few of those PS3 titles are actually considered to be good. So, I am assuming that most people buy the PS3 as a future-proof Blu-Ray player. I can't imagine why anyone would buy the PS3 just for the games, the 360 has a MUCH better library of games.

Highly Ranked

Carney @ Nov 24th 2008 4:22PM

You can't imagine why any gamer would want a PS3 vs. a 360?

Maybe he knows that most big hits are released on BOTH platforms so choosing one or another doesn't reduce his access to the big games. But if he wants to play online, he'll have to pay $50 for the privilege each and every year on a 360, but online access with a PS3 is FREE.

Let's add that up, boys and girls. After 5 years of ownership, the 360 owner pays $250; the PS3 owner pays zero. After 10 years, a full product lifecycle, the 360 owner pays $500 (!!!) just to play online; the PS3 owner pays zero.

Still wannt brag the 360 costs less?

Neutral

BumpCty @ Nov 16th 2008 12:16AM

I bought a ps3 a month or twp ago because my 360 died. The only game I have is mgs4, not many other games look interesting enough to get, and the ones that do I'd rather get the 360 version for whenever I get another one. I use the ps3 for movies more than games and wish the remote had a dedicated power button.

Highest Ranked

DVD4ME @ Nov 16th 2008 1:52AM

PS3 is a quality piece of kit, but blu ray disc sales really are tanking and so is PS3 software compared to Wii and 360, see vgchartz.com
Maybe because the PS3 is so expensive people can't afford the run it after purchase, unlikely but I don't know why, maybe it's like owning a V8 or something when petrol's sky high.

Neutral

SITEiNK @ Nov 16th 2008 4:59AM

Neutral

brujo @ Jan 17th 2009 6:41PM

Hello, my name is brujo garza, and Im 33 and love the ps3. my children love the ps3, my wife loves the ps3!. it has a plethora of use. go online with keyboard usb ports, download movies for all, download games to preview and to keep, many updates, many media formats. 1080p plus of course, and some many more to offer. i have a sony digital camera a sony notebook mostly because of my ps3 experience! it runs a bit hot its a bit big but that is small compared to what it offers, i own the elder 40gb spider man bundled one btw.

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