PS3 Sale Percentages Surge During Holiday Rush

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In a very carefully worded statement, Sony Computer Entertainment America has announced that sales of the PlayStation 3 in North America's top ten retailers have increased 298% since the $399 40GB model hit November 2.

On a smaller scale, PlayStation 3 sales at those select retailers were up 245% on the day after Thanksgiving--commonly referred to as Black Friday--compared to those of last year.

Though Sony did not provide any hard numbers, the PlayStation 3 sold about 120,000 units per month across September and October. However, the specifics of the provided percentages make it difficult to confidently calculate hardware sales using this figure, causing some to wonder what, if anything, the announced numbers imply.

The PS3 launched in North America on November 11, 2006, mere weeks before Black Friday. Likely explanations for this year's jump in Black Friday sales over those of last year include a more robust software lineup, lower price points, increased availability, and increased public awareness of the system.

The Black Friday rush also saw the selected retailers' sales of the PSP--which recently underwent a price cut and a redesign--increase by 136% and those of the PlayStation 2 grow by 287% over the week before. A redesigned PS2 was recently unveiled by SCE Japan. SCEA has yet to announce details of a domestic release for the latest revision, though a price cut to $99 is rumored.

Chris Faylor was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    November 27, 2007 10:00 AM

    Sounds impressive - except that it uses percentages instead of actual numbers. 298% of their previous PS3 numbers might still not be as many units as 360's or Wii's (speculating here). I'd bet that the 136% increase for the PSP is still not as many units as the DS moved, for example.

    Still, it does look like they price cut had the intended effect - people did go out and get one at that price point.

    • reply
      November 27, 2007 10:01 AM

      I love PR sales reports... they smell of manure

    • reply
      November 27, 2007 10:02 AM

      Remember that day in math class where they taught you how to skew percentages and make some decent figures look really impressive?

      • reply
        November 27, 2007 11:05 AM

        Sorry, I didn't get just how subtle you were trying to be in the article

        • reply
          November 27, 2007 11:28 AM

          I did a few live edits to make things more clear, no worries. I just wanted to say I agreed with you.

      • reply
        November 27, 2007 3:29 PM

        Thats my job right now :D

        Perhaps someone at Sony didn't get the memo that the NPD had changed their minds about not releasing sales figures? They have picked probably the best month for them to compare it against. Interesting to see what the NPD figures show.

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