Yesterday NPD reported that Sony PlayStation 3 missed its target of 400,000 units sold in the US by "just a bit." It was only a week ago when Larry Probts, CEO of Electronic Arts, estimated 200,000 shipped units - he was only off by 3,000.
Today, Sony acknowledges the figures saying the early production problems dropped their estimates down lower than expected. This explains why dedicated gamers had to shoot each other for this console (ok, nothing really explains that).
Sony told 1up.com:
Sony Computer Entertainment America is very pleased with the NPD data for November, showing outstanding sales for all of its platforms. These figures clearly demonstrate the strength of the PlayStation family of products in the US market. PLAYSTATION 3 remains one of the most sought after items this holiday season, selling through almost immediately in all retailers once placed on store shelves. We will continue to utilize airfreight delivery for the PLAYSTATION 3 to assure a steady stream of systems for North American consumers through the end of the year. And while initial day-one launch shipment goals weren't achievable due to early manufacturing issues, those problems have been resolved and we do remain focused on having one million PS3's in the pipeline by December 31, 2006.
The six-year old PlayStation 2 continues to dominate the market, outselling all other consoles in November, including much newer systems from the competition. The PS2 also topped the software category, out pacing all other console's sales by almost three times. The PSP (PlayStation Portable Player) had a very good November as well, seeing a jump in sales of nearly 50% and a strong increase in software sell-through. These sales figures bode very well for SCEA as it offers a computer entertainment system for every taste and budget this holiday season.
What does this mean for Sony? It means they focus on the good figures: PSP and PS2 numbers. The PSP sold 419,000 units and the PS2 topped all non-portable sales with 664,000 units sold in November. The PS2 continues to dominate with great sales figures, although it's a quarter of the price on some of the new generation consoles.
The Sony figures look hot when compared to much of the competing systems. Of course, the Nintendo DS pushed 918,000 units but that little handheld just doesn't quit. The Nintendo Wii sold 476,000 consoles in the US and Microsoft Xbox 360 pushed 511,000 units to hungry consumers.
source: 1up.com
