1M PS3s and 750K Wiis Predicted for US Launch by GameStop

RC Cola · Aug 17, 2006

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3653&Itemid=2

Games retailer GameStop said today that it will not be taking PS3 and Wii pre-orders until it has a better idea of how many systems will be allocated to its stores; 1 million PS3s, 750,000 Wiis predicted for overall US launch.

In a Q&A session during GameStop's quarterly financial conference call, David Carlson, executive VP and CFO of the company explained the amount of Wii and PS3 units he expects to hit US shores for the consoles' Q4 launches.

"...We're looking at around a million units of PS3 in the US, which is somewhere around half or less than what Sony has said [would ship worldwide]," he said. "With the Wii, we're looking at around 750,000 in the US. We believe at this point, that could be a light number. It's hard to say, though. We remain conservative until they actually show up at our warehouse."

GameStop vice chairman and COO Dan DeMatteo added, "We're not going to take pre-orders until we have some more and clearer information from both Nintendo and Sony in terms of likely launch quantities for GameStop. We don't want to do what we did last year, which was to take way too many [pre-orders] on the 360, and then under-deliver. We want to get closer to keeping a promise to the consumer."

GameStop expects Nintendo to divulge Wii launch figure information sometime this month, but the company's not too sure when Sony will reveal numbers. "We'll know Nintendo's [Wii launch numbers] before Sony's," said DeMatteo.

Analysts also inquired what would happen if PS3 launch quantities fell short of expectations. "[Last year,] the 360 in short supply had an effect of freezing the market," said DeMatteo. "But if you look at it, there wasn't anything new. I mean, there weren't any new platforms out there, so the 360 was the newest thing in the last four or five years. This year, there will be a Wii and there will be a 360, so I can't believe that it will have the same kind of impact that the 360 [shortages] had."

The hardware-filled holidays could spell trouble for any manufacturer that can't meet demand. As DeMatteo said, consumers will have more options this holiday if their system of choice is sold out.

As for the rumored Microsoft Xbox 360 bundle, DeMatteo said that he hasn't heard anything about it. "I could be out of the loop, but I haven't heard of one," he said.
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rrj_gamz · Aug 17, 2006

That sounds like a lot, but with so many retailers selling them, there may be a short supply...Definitely don't want a repeat of the 360...

RC Cola · Aug 17, 2006

If I'm not mistaken, there were only like 400K-500K 360s at launch, so that might help in avoiding the situation from last year (along with what the GS guy said about there being other options). FWIW though, the PS3 numbers seem (way) too high (even if they hit their WW estimates), and the Wii numbers seem too low (especially in comparison to the PS3 numbers).

WhoMikeJames · Aug 17, 2006

Ive asked so many gamestop guys they all say October 1st

halfbreed · Aug 18, 2006

Didn't Sony say they aimed 2 million worldwide at launch?

Even if they manage to hit that mark, does GameStop really expect half of the PS3's worldwide?

oomp · Aug 18, 2006

WhoMikeJames said:

Ive asked so many gamestop guys they all say October 1st
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Yeah. First week of October is what they have said to me.

UTweezer · Aug 18, 2006

halfbreed said:

Didn't Sony say they aimed 2 million worldwide at launch?

Even if they manage to hit that mark, does GameStop really expect half of the PS3's worldwide?
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I hope gamestop doesn't get as many as they claim to be getting.

Everyone I've encountered at a gamestop is clueless.

RC Cola · Aug 18, 2006

GameStop isn't getting those shipment numbers; those are what they expect to be shipped to the US at launch (and then distributed to them, Wal-mart, Target, Best Buy, etc.). These numbers are supposed to be early estimates by Sony/Nintendo, and if GS expected that much just for their stores alone, they probably would have started pre-orders by now (at least for 5-10 people per store or something).

The 1M number is still pretty high IMO (especially if they can't meet the 2M at launch estimates, which is more than possible). They'll probably ship more here than the other regions, but I thought it would be more even than that (Europe is probably going to get shafted...and they're used to paying high prices for consoles ). Unlike the 360 situation, there are probably a lot of people in Europe and Japan that would like to have a PS3 this year (as well as maybe a Wii too).

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