PS3 UK sales rocket... then plummet Sony's PlayStation 3 has been on a rollercoaster ride here during the past two weeks, rising to an incredible peak - then plunging rapidly back toward the ground. At least, that's what the next-gen consoles sales figures have done. The PS3 arrived here on 23 March. During its first weekend on sale, some 600,000 consoles were …
Seriously, what did you expect? When a new product like this hits the market you're going to have the majority of people who want to buy it picking it up immediately, and you'd expect a huge drop-off for the second week. For a perfect product with no supply constraints whatsoever, everyone would buy one the first day, and sales would then drop 100%.
The first week sales were record-breaking (which was, of course, utterly meaningless). The second week sales are still pretty good - 30k units in a week in the UK market is good sales. There's not going to be anything worth talking about with sales figures until a good few months from now once we're over the launch highs and lows, none of the systems are supply constrained, and we can see their regular ongoing sales.
Just to give you a reference point for how ridiculous it is to see this as some sort of disaster, if the PS3 continued to sell at the same rate as it did in its launch week (165k units across two days) then by the end of the year it would have sold over 20 million units in the UK alone. Don't you think some sort of drop-off might have been expected?
If Sony had shipped the PS3 to the UK at the same time as the US it would be affordable by now. Not to mention it would have had a good selection of titles available.
The delays caused a problem, the Wii and XBox 360 have cleaned up, only the die-hard Sony fans have hung on for the PS3. The more casual gamers have gone for a Wii, the hardcore online gamers went for a 360.
Sony should think about how they treat the UK market in future, we're a fairly rich economy with a lot of games developers and a lot of hardcore gamers.
It's time that Sony realised that the UK is not the push-over we once were for pricing.
This backlash against Sony's overpricing and underspec'ing the PS3 in the UK is completely and utterly justified.
I used to be a Sony fan but I will certainly not be rushing to buy anything from them again and I hope that enough like-minded people exist to force Sony to rethink their exploitative tactics.
I can't believe that this drop in sales is due to shortages. I can go in any store in my area and they've all got lot's of stock of the PS3, and it's accesories.
I think this is due to Sony's greed with the pricing of the unit, and I agree with the article writer that a price drop is inevitable and will probably be very soon.
Sony treat us like 2nd class citizens and they wonder why!
Europe and Australia, which combined are a much larger market, are told that we are not as important as our US cousins and will have to wait for months. We're then told that we have to pay £120 more, for a product that is technically inferior.
And Sony wonder why people aren't buying their PS3s. What about this situation do Sony not understand?
To further help Sony along, here are a couple of other clues:
No HDMI cable in the box
No free game in the box (Wii Sports - good enough reason for buying a Wii on its own, and it's free!)
Only 1 controller
If I buy another controller, I have to buy the USB charging cable separately (I mean, how cheap is that?!)
Don't get me wrong - I'd love to have a PS3... but not at that price!
When is some journalist really going to take someone at Sony UK or Sony europe to task over this pricing? Seriously, any good hardware journo must be itching to get a sony rep in the hotseat and get an explanation as to why we in the UK had to wait longer, and pay more for a product which was cheaper to produce and does less than ones designed for other markets.
Be prepared to point out the difference can't be explained by taxes and duties alone, nor by retailer margins. Perhaps it's because of the pricing strategy for complimentary product. If we buy less games per machine (which sony get a cut of) then fair enough we should perhaps pay more for the console, but we don't!! Perhaps we buy less accessories - do we? Perhaps those we buy are cheaper (doubt it!)
Come on Reg Hacks - get involved!!
Come, come, why so many consoles sold in the first week?... Profiteering!
People saw what happened with the 360 and jumped on the band wagon to make a quick buck with the PS3 by buying multiples. In doing so distorting real demand and sales figures.
Unfortunately for them demand overall is low, every forum or auction site you look on there are already quantities for sale. Most selling or being advertised at well below £425 and still not selling.
Maybe this will teach Sony a lesson... "Treasure Island" is loosing its sheen! £425 for a console and £50 retail for game <ROFL>. The PS3 like the PS2 before it will only become mass market when the price is sensible and software plentiful.
I was a very early adopter of DVD, but the battle of HD and BluRay is creating apathy in the market and silly pricing policies don't help!
The PS3 has been hyped for over a year. Equally, for over a year, the industry has bombarded us with stories about short supply, high launch prices, and other drive by shootings.
And now they're selling 30.000 of them a week. I wish I'd something I couls sell 30.000 a week of. I wouldn't care if people said sales were slow. I wouldn,t mind them being at a crawl at 25.000 a week.
What is however disturbing is that they are loosing a few hundred un every console and someone is calling them greedy.
Peter R.
It's incredible, some of the comments lambasting Sony for the pricing. The fact is the RRP of £425 has been driven by retailers desire to have bigger margins on the console. So how one can lambast Sony for that is beyond me.
Comments like "Maybe this will teach Sony a lesson... "Treasure Island" is loosing its sheen! £425 for a console and £50 retail for game " border on fanboy delusions.
Check the facts. First party games are £40 (£10 less the Microsft 1st party games).
I think the reason why the ps3 is costing the uk gamer alot it mainly due to the goverment they tax almost everything that is Imported to the UK.
Sony maybe charging alot for the console but i believe that if the UK Goverment didn't tax products like the ps3 then it probably be 60 pound if not more cheaper.
Sony are only charging this amount to make up for the loss in tax payouts
I have to chuckle at the inevitable Sony apologists that appear when such articles as this are made public. Why is there any need to make excuses for a huge international conglomerate? Especially when they are abusing the good nature of the British with their [Sony's] disdainful treatment of our market!
There is no escaping it - the Sony PS3 is over-priced and under-specified in comparison to its home and American market. Why exactly is that? Sony cannot offer any reasonable explanation, and it has already been pointed out that the cost of getting a PS3 into a shop does not in any way justify the huge cost difference (100% more than the Hong Kong buyer!). No, this is pure corporate greed in an attempt to soak what is percieved to be one of the richest economies in the world - the UK.
But Sony are due to catch a bit of a cold on the PS3 this time. The buying British public seem to have offered an entirely justified snub to the PS3 for all of the reasons that are written about. We care not about Blue Ray, we care not that Sony want it to be a "Home Entertainment System" - in the PS3 we simply want a next generation games console. When it is marketed as something else, and at a huge premium, we vote with out feet and wallets. Sony can refuse to listen at its peril.
Of course, Sony is absolutely right, I can afford a PS3, additional controller, HDMI cable and all of the other stuff that is not in the box. But, and this is the crux of the matter, I don't want to afford it. Not when I know my Hong Kong, American and Japanese cousins are getting way more for way less capital outlay. Get that Sony? I don't want to!
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