Fri, Jul 30, 2010 | 10:56 BST
PS3 outsold 360 by 28% in last 12 months
PlayStation 3 outsold Xbox 360 by 4 million units in the 12 months ending June 30, by far the most significant lead Sony has placed over Microsoft since it launched PS3 in 2006.
Microsoft reported last week that it had sold 10.3 million consoles in its last financial year, which ended June 30. Sony confirmed yesterday that it sold 14.3 million PlayStation 3s in the same period, pushing the machine’s total sales to 38.1 million; the gap between the two consoles now stands at a slender 3.6 million units.
Sony boosted PS3 sales over the 2009 Christmas period with the introduction of Slim and a general price cut.
The figures mark a significant reversal in fortunes for the two consoles: in the preceding 12 months, 360 beat out PS3 by 11.1 million to 9.6 million units.
All of which again raises the question of when, and indeed if, PS3 sales are going to pass 360′s. You can bet your ass it’s a question that’s being asked an awful lot at Sony and Microsoft right now.
Despite the major boost to PS3 sales in the past 12 months, and the fact Sony’s figures are undeniably trending towards a overall win, the outcome isn’t as cut and dry as some might like.
Check this out. Hit it for a bigger version:
These are cumulative, life-time sales in millions of units. The periods you should be looking at are the Christmas “steps” at points 5, 9, 13 and 17. As you can see, those gaps are shrinking, the most significant closure coming after last Christmas, during which Sony dropped PS3′s price and introduced a new casing. Since Christmas last year, PS3′s growth is obviously steeper than 360′s.
But.
You shall not pass
Microsoft is now attempting to play the same hand against Sony with the introduction of 360 Slim, which by all accounts has been hugely successful.
Week-over-week UK 360 sales rose over 1,000 percent after Slim’s launch, according to Xbox Europe boss Chris Lewis. Analyst Michael Pachter said that Slim accounted for around 40 percent of June 360 sales in the US; 360 moved over 450,000 units in America last month, meaning the console was second only to DS in the period.
If price-cutting and the introduction of a new form factor steepened PS3′s growth, it’s reasonable to assume the same thing will work for Microsoft. Evidence so far suggests this is the case.
And that means the two lines in that graph may go back to near-parallel instead of converging in the next 3-4 quarters. And that means we may not get to write the headline, “PS3 PASSES 360 IN GLOBAL SALES” and spend 72 hours having a massive news wank just yet.
Move any mountain
The answer to the “passing” question is further muddied by the impending releases of Kinect and Move, both of which hit in this year’s Christmas quarter and both of which are likely to further boost sales for their respective mother hardware.
Both Microsoft and Sony have now laid out their motion stalls, [Is that even possible? - Ed] with the last piece of the release jigsaw [Again... - Ed] likely to come with the Kinect release date at gamescom next month.
Kinect is ostensibly expensive at £130 and $150, game included. The peripheral is a single unit, whereas Move can be broken into parts to bring the entry point down. Despite this, though, buying the Motion Controller, Sub Controller and Eye will cost at least £75, coming with a demo disc, as confirmed by Sony yesterday.
Neither offering is “cheap”.
The truth is that no one yet knows how the introduction of Kinect and Move will impact Sony’s ability to pass 360, although the overall reaction to Kinect has been “too much” compared to Move’s “not bad”. We’ll just have to wait until the results come in next spring.
Slappy girl fight
One thing is definitely known, though. Sony and Microsoft are now both locked in a desperate, hair-pulling struggle for the overall lead.
You’re allowed to stand round them in a circle shouting and laughing. You’re only human.
83 comments
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#51
theevilaires
30/07/10, 4:42 pm
Ok I read the comments and I just want to touch on this Wii being in 1st place bullshit! The wii is not a next gen console. It cannot compete with the XBOX 360 or the PS3 when it comes to all out tech power. A next gen console is all about pushing graphics and psychics to new and higher level and Wii cannot do that period on 360 or PS3! That alone does not make it next gen or in this imaginary dumb race.
If the PS3 and 360 launched day 1 together at $599 and $399 the PS3 would be in the lead today in spite of it being higher cost than the 360. You know and I know. Don’t try to sugar coat it. And the only reason why SONY waited as long as they did was because they felt the one year head by M$ wasn’t a threat and that no one would cling to the wii because of the visuals….YES they were wrong and got their ass SPANKED BAD!
But now SONY is back ready to take its belt back from M$…not Nintendo. If you want to include Nintendo then you might as well include each corporation as a company in whole. If games are games then money is money and M$ is kicking both of their asses. This generation console war is ONLY between SONY and Microsoft. To all the people keep bring up the Wii in articles like this only shows how pissed you’re going to be when the PS3 over takes the 360 in sales “WORLDWIDE”
Also you EUROS, and by euros I mean the ass holes in the U.(S).K (United states kinda) Stop shouting how much the 360 has a bigger lead in the U.S. You don’t live here and you damn sure don’t like the country (but you guys love to mimic our life style so much) you only bring up the U.S. when its time to defend your precious XBOX! GO BUY A PS3 too MR. and MRS. hardcore gamer.
Funny as hell how Mike and Psychotext don’t post as often but once an article pops about SONY beating M$ at something they comment more in that article than they do in a whole months time combined ??? Doing damage control a bit there guys….I’m just grateful Gadzooks! hasn’t crawled from under his bridge yet. The three of you together are the equivent of the three red rings (you’re funny to watch fail, but you still suck)
#52
The Hindle
30/07/10, 4:56 pm
I have only one thing to say regarding your insults of the Uk tea and thats
USA founded by the British in the 17th Century
Destroyed by BP in 2010
#53
daytripper
30/07/10, 4:58 pm
@51 why do you treat all this as a “them versus us” thing, its just game systems buddy. the sales part of it doesnt interest me, as long as great games are coming out for ps3 and 360 i wont be bothered by all the numbers.
#54
theevilaires
30/07/10, 5:07 pm
@53 go back and read comments 1-50 before talking your bull shit against me. I said from the beginning its a stupid imaginary war…its all in fun…but be real certain events have held back the PS3…its not like people just woke up one day and said fuck SONY they suck.
The worlds economic crash, SONY be arrogant, and the lack of entertainment for older people and them wanting to do something different has hindered PS3 from being on top at this point and day. But they’re getting there.
@52 Don’t know why but most people from the U.K. think their shit don’t stink. They think they are better than the rest of the euros over there for some reason. Very cocky people they are.
#55
Gheritt White
30/07/10, 5:10 pm
Personally, I love TEA’s posts
#56
daytripper
30/07/10, 5:10 pm
@53 what bullshit? i asked you a simple question, i wasnt aggressive towards you or anything. your attitude fucking stinks.
#57
Gadzooks!
30/07/10, 5:22 pm
Once again TEA strolls in and shits all over a perfectly pleasant thread.
Why the hell hasnt this retard been banned? He’s abusive and never posts anything of worth. It’s textbook trolling.
Moderaters, for christ sakes grow a set will you?
#58
Crysis
30/07/10, 5:26 pm
Sony, they make great hardware
M$, they make great software
Nintendo, they are great for marketing
Any arguments here?
#59
cookiejar
30/07/10, 5:29 pm
@58 Spot on!
#60
daytripper
30/07/10, 5:30 pm
@58 none although i still think PSN has much potential yet to be realised.
#61
Gekidami
30/07/10, 5:36 pm
@58
I assume that by “MS makes great software” you mean their consoles OS, not their games?
#62
Crysis
30/07/10, 5:40 pm
@61, MS mainly pays for their exclusives, while other manufactures build up their own studios, MS tends to buy them & their projects (not the first time MS has either)-imo a very low form of competition
#63
Gekidami
30/07/10, 5:46 pm
Well i know, but you asked if there were any arguments to your statement up there, you said that MS make great software, and if you’re including games in that then i’d say theres grounds to argue. Thats why i asked.
#64
daytripper
30/07/10, 5:47 pm
@62 you make out sony and nintendo dont pay for anything either, for example the latest announcements regarding the EA exclusive PS3 stuff, what do you think Sony does to get them, offer coffee and cakes? its the main reason i laugh at the “M$” tag plenty seem to post.
The only thing I see different is first party, where for me Sony and Nintendo are much better in that respect, something Microsoft really needs to work on.
#65
Gadzooks!
30/07/10, 5:50 pm
@63
You have no grounds to argue. MS 1st party games like Halo, Fable and Forza are up there with the very best games ever made, both critically and in terms of quality, so the fact that they make great software is not up for debate.
#66
Crysis
30/07/10, 5:53 pm
@64, i’m just saying MS are infamous for this, they don’t just do it with their games, but many, many of the software you see today on Windows were designed & made by small companies & bought out by MS (not always willingly might i add)
#67
Gekidami
30/07/10, 5:55 pm
@65
But that wasnt the original point, Crysis worded his post in a way that suggests that each is good at that thing and the others arent. Lets face it, MS in terms of first party games is miles behind the other 2, theirs is far from being the ‘greatest’.
#68
zoopdeloop
30/07/10, 6:11 pm
@58
I don’t think that’s how it goes this gen.
Microsoft doesn’t have that much of greater software (than Sony or Nintendo) on their own.They just have better 3rd party dev support and exclusive deals…up until now.
If you really put a though behind it aside from other factors Microsoft’s success this gen also comes from the Dvd format.
From Piracy to the support of 3rd party devs.
Blu ray may be superior giving much more space and flexibility but developers wouldn’t excuse themselves with DLC so easily and make profit out of it, if they had only this format in both consoles.
So in a sense Microsoft gave developers what they wanted “finite” (less space than the Blu ray)so they(developers)could revenue from DLC(which is essential for them)in a way excusing themselves for not putting that extra content they had in store in the first place
As for piracy.It contributed in the success of Psone,Ps2 and now 360.I know a lot of people that are not willing to pay more than 10$ for a game especially when there are plenty of games they want to experience.They always been like that since Psone days and keep going now with the 360 without having much of an interest on multiplayer if it means they can pay much less for their games
#69
Gadzooks!
30/07/10, 6:18 pm
@67
All 3 platform holders put out some very good games on thier very good machines and first party software sales on all 3 platforms is healthy.
There is no ‘best’, although you could quantify which is most popular by totting up sales figures. That wouldnt serve any purpose other than to get people arguing though.
We all have our preferences, but to say any one platform has the ‘best games’ is trying to force an opinion shaped object into a fact shaped hole.
#70
OlderGamer
30/07/10, 6:26 pm
Does any of it matter?
Fact is , next gen or not, the Wii is beating both of these systems.
Does anyone know who won Gen(megadrive) or SNES? I think it was SNES, but it wasn’t by large margin. Thos I think the SNES sold for longer(and that) may have widdened the gap.
Reminds me of this gen. Take the Wii out of the picture, if you like. And you have two very comparable systems. And at the end of the day the sales numbers will be close. And down the road we will look back and think they both did well.
So beyond nerd raging fanboys, and game industry hype/sensationilism … does any of it matter? Forget about the 3M systems sold gap, and think about the fact that each system is pushing near 40M sold. Thats pretty good.
And this is healthy.
If Nintendo, Sony, or MS had zero competitiob the industry would suffer from it. The fact that two mainstream “core” systems are neck and neck is a great thing for the games industry.
Look at great exclusive deals that come out of it as a result. Each company trying to out do the other. And win us over.
I say that is a good thing.
But if you folks wanna sit back and call each other names go for it.
I am going to go back and play Hydro Thunder, I still have one VG247 members time to beat on one track – you know who you are!
#71
Boris Fett
30/07/10, 6:29 pm
@70 Would that be me? Hahahaha!
Anyway, well said. At the end of the day, the Wii is slaughtering them both, COMBINED.
#72
daytripper
30/07/10, 6:37 pm
@70 i think snes beat the megadrive (genesis) by 1m or something mate, not much in it. snes was better anway
#73
Crysis
30/07/10, 6:42 pm
@71, that’s not true, combined the ps3 & 360 have nearly 80mil, the wii is around 73mil, care to elaborate how it ‘slaughters’ bot the ps3 & 360 combined then?
If you mean by profit, it’ll be foolish to argue, both consoles are much more expensive to make, the wii is a slightly improve gamecube with some fancy perephials, & both MS & Sony had several bad years between the ps3 originally being sold @ a loss & the RRoD
#74
Boris Fett
30/07/10, 6:48 pm
@73 Profit is profit.
Maybe Microsoft and Sony shouldn’t have produced such needlessly expensive machines, eh?
#75
Crysis
30/07/10, 6:54 pm
@Boris, the 360 was not ‘needlessly expensive’ & i personally consider the ps3 the ‘luxury’ console, no doubt the most conveniant console, atleast to me (never have to pay to play online & i get great multiplatform games-best of both worlds?)
#76
theevilaires
30/07/10, 6:59 pm
OMG Gadzooks! stfu please we all know you’re Mike. Just drop the act and denial already. I would hate to be the person next to you in the elevator when you find out the PS3 surpassed the 360 in most consoles sold.
Wake up out of your denial kid!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txqiwrbYGrs
#77
Psychotext
30/07/10, 7:46 pm
“Funny as hell how Mike and Psychotext don’t post as often but once an article pops about SONY beating M$ at something they comment more in that article than they do in a whole months time combined ???”
Uhh… I posted here to talk about stats and finances. The same things I always post about. Are you reading something into my posts which isn’t there again?
You’ll see I also posted on stories related to Nintendo’s results, and Microsoft’s results. My apologies for posting on the stories which interest me. No really, I’m genuinely sorry.
#78
Boris Fett
30/07/10, 7:50 pm
@76 What the hell are you babbling about, TEA? I *complimented* Sony’s performance this year in my first post!
BTW, OlderGamer… check your leaderboard for Storming Asgard! =D
#79
theevilaires
30/07/10, 9:11 pm
I wasn’t talking about you O’Connor. I was talking about Gadzooks! aka Mike. I meant for daytripper to go back and analyze other peoples comments before attacking mine.
Psychotext I was joking man sheeessh
#80
Mike
30/07/10, 9:14 pm
http://quizilla.teennick.com/user_images/P/PI/PIN/pineapple-pie/1147896078_sMooretard.jpg
#81
Boris Fett
30/07/10, 11:35 pm
@79 I have a first name, you know?
#82
Hybridpsycho
31/07/10, 1:10 pm
@65
Fable is no longer accounted as a top game since they ruined in after the first.
Also, Forza? Meeh sure it sells well and all that but naah.
IN MY OPINION, the only reason Halo ever was successful was that it was the ONLY game that was actually decent on Vanilla-Xbox.
IN MY OPINION, all the games have been really stiff, there’s poor detail in them and it’s only the first game that actually had a decent story.
Halo Reach is in my opinion the first and only Halo game to look any good.
*awaits the flame*
PS: I’m no PS3 Fanboy, I’m getting an Xbox again as soon as I can afford it. Sold my last one
#83
sg1974
31/07/10, 4:07 pm
Every month the NPD comes out and loads of people say “ps3 is dead! LOL”. Then every now and then we see the figures for the rest of the world outside US and suddenly the “ps3 is dead! LOL” types are all busy elswhere. PS3 is ahead in the entire world outside US which given it had a launch date at leat a year and a half later than the MS console shows that Sonys console is doing just fine. Unfortunately the “ps3 is dead! LOL” types will be back out in force come the next NPD figures…..LOL.
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