Sony sells 466,716 PlayStation 3 units from its 11/11/06 launch until the end of the year. Nintendo sells 989,118 units from its 12/02/06 launch until the end of the year. What about Microsoft?
Microsoft sold 290,467 units from 12/10/05 until the end of December 2006. Not so hot, right? They did, however, sell 99,798 units in December of 2006 alone pushed along by the release of Blue Dragon.
The launch of Blue Dragon saw more Xbox 360 consoles sold than the Xbox 360 launch itself. Sure, it doesn't hold up against Nintendo's figures or even the small launch figures of the Sony PlayStation 3. But it does show something Microsoft hasn't done before, it shows Microsoft can sell consoles if they produce games Japanese gamers want.
With that knowledge Microsoft can go into 2007 confident with the knowledge they've unlocked the secret to Japanese sales. With those sales they can entertain more Japanese gamers, Japanese game designers and, more importantly, larger global sales.
It is also very obvious Japanese gamers are happy with the Nintendo product. The Wii sold more units than the PlayStation 3 with a later launch date. Did the Wii have more units to market than the PlayStation 3? Perhaps, but that's the risk you take when pushing bleeding edge technology to the market: new hardware being produced while new components are finalizes and production flaws/shortages are existent is to be expected.
Although the Japanese figures may reflect a bit about the US market it will be 2007 that will predict the winner in the coming years.
