Microsoft silent on sales drop, but Nintendo's high on life.
April was a rough month for Sony. Though the company saw a bump in PSP sales, Nintendo DS continues to curb stomp the portable PlayStation. More disappointing, however, must have been seeing PlayStation 3 decline in sales of almost 50,000 units between March and April. A high price point and lack of compelling exclusive software seem logical reasons to explain the drop, which Sony half agrees with.
"PS3 did see a dip in sales in April that we attribute mostly to a lack of new software in the market," said Dave Karraker, Sony Computer Entertainment America's Sr. Director of Corporate Communications, pointing to games like Heavenly Sword and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune as heavy hitters meant to spur sales in 2007. "We feel strongly that this robust library will help drive hardware sales in the upcoming months."
If April was tough, May looks bleaker. Karraker wouldn't speculate on sales, but outside of MLB 07: The Show's release at the end of April, there are no first-party releases coming to PS3 in May. In fact, there are only two May PS3 games period: Surf's Up and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Both are multi-platform releases.
Just today, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot told the Reuters news service a price drop was in order. "For sure Sony will have a different market share ... lower than before," he said. "They have to decrease the price quite significantly." Will Sony listen?
And even though Microsoft more than doubled Sony's console sales with Xbox 360, they didn't have much to brag about in April; their sales were down more than 20,000. You know a company doesn't have much to say about NPD numbers when they haven't sent a press release trumpeting their victories. 1UP contacted Microsoft the moment NPD numbers were released yesterday, but they've yet to respond.
Nintendo, of course, was quick to brag about selling more than Xbox 360 and PS3 combined, as Wii walked over the competition with 360,000 sales. This comes just a few weeks after Nintendo promised to increase Wii production. If this is how Wii sells with shortages, expect an interesting summer. So far, we're still not seeing the infamous "Wii tail" signaling a decline in the gangbusters-like sales of Wii.
Nintendo also had the top four best selling games in April -- look at Pokemon Diamond and Pearl with a combined 1.7 million in sales -- not to mention pushing nearly half a million Nintendo DS portables, with 471,000 new handheld gamers.
For reference, here's how the console platform holders have faired to-date in 2007:
2007 in Review: April vs. March vs. February vs. January:
Wii: 360,000 / 259,000 / 335,000 / 436,000
Xbox 360: 174,000 / 199,000 / 228,000 / 249,000
PlayStation 3: 82,000 / 130,000 / 127,000 / 244,000
Nintendo DS: 471,000 / 508,000 / 485,000 / 239,000
PSP: 183,000 / 180,000 / 176,000 / 221,000
PlayStation 2: 194,000 / 280,000 / 295,000 / 300,000
Total Platform Sales to Date in North America:
Wii: 2.7 million
PlayStation 3: 1.3 million
Xbox 360: 5.4 million
Nintendo DS: 10.9 million
PSP: 7.4 million
PlayStation 2: 38.2 million
Surprisingly, both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 sales have declined since the holiday period, while Wii remains undeniably strong and even shows signs of growth. Unlike PS3, however, Wii has several strong releases coming in May -- Mario Party 8, Mortal Kombat Armageddon, Tamagotchi: Party On! -- that should keep sales alive. Xbox 360 sees Forza Motorsport 2 and Shadowrun, but neither arrives until the end of the month.
fonte: 1up
A PS3 é possivelmente a consola com mais potencial, e se fosse a comprar uma, muito provavelmente seria a que compraria. Mas, quem é que no seu perfeito juizo vai dar 599€ sem ter jogos "decentes" para comprar?
E a Sony que não aponte o dedo, pois se isto está a acontecer é por sua culpa. A sua estratégia foi péssima, e para além disso eles também são produtores/editores, pos isso podiam muito bem ter providenciado internamente grandes jogos para o lançamento da consola.
Curiosamente, a remar contra a maré (pelo menos, em relação ao que muita gente esperava), a nova consola da Nintendo está a ser um sucesso. E também não deixa de ser curioso que em pleno mês de Abril de 2007 a PS2, uma consola com a morte a caminho, venda bem mais do dobro da novissíma PS3.
O que lhes vai valendo é que as últimas noticias apontam para um aumento de 60% das vendas da PSP na Europa devido à baixa do preço.
