http://asia.news.yahoo.com/060724/3/2nj6r.html Another related article, mostly about financials, forecasts, sales numbers, and some recycled Wii/PS3/360 info: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=aK7vb9IKWJ8U&refer=asia They expect to sell 17M during the FY, which ends March 2007. FWIW, the Gamecube, after being on the market for about 5 years, is sitting around 20M WW. We'll probably get a report later in the week about Sony shipping 21M PSPs WW.
love it love it. the masters return. sony and ms should be scared for this upcoming next gen release....
So who's actually winning in the handheld console market? It seems like Nintendo has the upper hand right now, but I haven't seen very many numbers on the issue so I'm not quite sure what's going on. On a side note, mario kart for DS is so damn addictive.
Damn straight! Ever since I got my DSLite I've been on a tear buying games, they're all so fun! Trauma Center, Phoenix Wright, Castlevania, Advance Wars DS, Animal Crossing, New Super Mario Bros, Tetris, Trace Memory, Brain Age... And got my first import on the way, Ouendan, a really fun rythme games.... Can't wait for Star Fox, Mario 3 on 3 Hoops, Final Fantasy III remake and mooooooooooooooore!
Not that this won't have an effect on the console market, but it isn't like the success of the GBA and the GB (both of which performed a little better than the DS at this point I think) helped the GC and the N64 out in console world. That might change given the circumstances of this particular case though, especially when you consider the similarities between the philosophy of the DS and the Wii. Despite their problems in the console market, Nintendo have been the masters of the handheld market for quite a while. Nintendo is. Basically, they're pretty close in the US in HW (4-5M IIRC) and SW sales (12-15M IIRC), but the DSL has helped give the DS the upperhand in the last month or 2 (and will probably widen the gap and keep it there for a while at least). It is hard to get numbers for Europe, but I think it is assumed that they are about the same as the US if not more so in the favor of the DS. And in Japan, it isn't even close. The DS is selling so much better than anything else over there (forget the numbers exactly, but something like 8-10M for the DS in the last 2 years, and maybe like 3-5M for the PSP, and the rest doesn't really sell that well). The PSP shipped numbers and the Nintendo DS sales numbers have been pretty close, but unless the PSP is outselling the DS by millions in Korea, Australia, Canada, China, etc, that's a probably just a case of Nintendo being conservative with their shipping (although it would be higher than their sales numbers) and Sony pumping the market full of PSPs, whether the demand is there or not (though they can’t do that forever).
Yeah, but Sony flooding the market with PSPs will create a bullwhip effect. Eventually, their inflated numbers will ultimately be exposed in the following quarter as the retail channel cries "No mas!" to taking on more supply.
I'm actually surprised it hasn't happened already. Sony's been putting out these high shipped figures for a couple of quarters now IIRC. It will be interesting to see where they're at now as well as what Sony expects to ship in the near-future.
everywhere i go that sells video game consoles,handhelds, games,ect I see a crapload of psp's in stock zero DS/ds-lites earth to sony, Shipped out number doesn't mean what actually is sold.
True, but eventually, like I said before, retailers aren't going to order more units due to high inventory levels, and that should affect Sony's shipped numbers. That it hasn't happened in several quarters can only mean that perhaps sales are indeed good. Technically, we should see this spike quarter-to-quarter.
I think demand is steady, but it is true that there hasn't been a problem with PSP stock. Sony has basically just made sure stores have them in steady supply. And with the holidays coming up I'd imagine retailers will want to stay stocked. I know that EB/Gamestops expected the PSP to be huge and ordered/arranged accordingly. That didn't necessarily happen and there are a lot of systems out there. But yeah, it is much harder to find a DS Lite right now. It would be nice if Sony wouldn't use 'shipped' numbers.
Demand has been pretty stable I think (PSP actually sold better than average when the DSL came out for some reason), but I certainly wouldn't doubt it if the shipped numbers started slowing down pretty soon (if they haven't already). Sales are good, but I don't think they're as good as the shipped numbers suggest. Perhaps Sony's relationship with retailers has allowed them to ship more than they would normally allow. I think one thing that gets lost in the DS/DSL craziness is that the PSP is selling well...just not nearly as well as the DS, which is basically putting up PS2/GBA numbers (all w/o Pokemon too). The shipped figures are perhaps a little misleading, but it isn't like the PSP is a massive failure or anything like that. FWIW, Nintendo is the only company that uses sold figures (and I think they use shipped numbers in some of their reports). Sony, Microsoft, and I believe Sega all used shipped figures. It is a pain in the butt to try and compare numbers between Nintendo and Sony though; if the 360/Wii/PS3 poll is any indication, it might continue with the Wii and the PS3.
I'm gettin awfully tempted to buy a DS Lite (they are so addictive). Anybody know if Nintendo will be making some new colors available for the US anytime soon, or am I gonna have to just get the white or import one? Kinda pisses me off that Europe got black ones and Japan has like pink and dark blue.
There's been no official word yet, I was hoping we'd get some by Christmas... if they don't hurry up and bring them over my girlfriend may force me to import a Pink one for $200 for her...! NOBLE PINK! NOBLE PINK! ("Noble Pink" is the official name of the color )
