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PlayStation 2 Reaches 60 Million Units

Posted by simoniker on from the a-drop-in-the-ocean dept.

Thanks to IGN for reprinting the Sony press release announcing that worldwide shipment of Sony's PlayStation 2 totaled 60 million units on September 6th. This can be split up into Japan/Asia (14.17 million units since March 4th, 2000), North America (26.42 million units since October 26th, 2000), and Europe/Australia (19.44 million units since November 24th, 2000.) The press release points out that: "Shipment of 60 million units within 3 years and 6 months since the launch is 1.6 times more in volume compared to the same period after launch of the original PlayStation." GamesIndustry.biz also note: "It's been quite a haul for Sony, who shipped their 50 millionth PS2 on January 15th 2003, having hit 40 million just four months previously and 30 million four and a half months prior to that."

5 of 51 comments (clear)

  1. wow by rwven · · Score: 0, Interesting

    man, 60 million units is a LOT of consoles. given the choice of all that's out i would most likely go for the PS2... im not a big fan of consoles in general though.

    that new infinium labs "phantom" looks to be a killer. /. has a lot of mentions of it as i recall. do a search. should be the first console ever that's truely upgradable.... not to mention it comes with not too shabby hardware. makes the xbox look like a toaster...

    but back on topic, i wonder what a pile of 60 million consoles would look like....

  2. Math for fun and profit by jvmatthe · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Let's assume that the boxes that PS2 consoles are shipped in are 18 inches by 18 inches by 8 inches. That's 1.5 cubic feet. If you multiply by 60 million, you end up with 90 million cubic feet. The cube root of 90 million is 448 plus a bit. Assume 15 feet per story in a building.

    Then if all the boxes for all the PS2 consoles sold were stacked up in a cube, it'd be roughly 30 stories tall and as long on each side as about 1.5 football fields.

    I'm sure I forgot to carry a one or something. Maybe even a divide by zero somewhere. But that's probably close.

    Now if I only had a dollar for each console sold...

    --
    Curmudgeon Gamer: Not happy
  3. 60 gazillion millions by August_zero · · Score: 2, Interesting

    HOw many of these 60 million are resales? I treat my PS2 with the utmost care and I am on my 3rd due to breakage. Come to think of it, of all the Sony products i have purchased over the years, only a couple of them still work. Maybe I am just unlucky...

    Seriously though, I guess it testifies as to how important the stupid thing is to me since I have replaced it twice.

    --
    On Wall Street they say "buy low, sell high" On the pad we say, "buy high, sell high" Isn't that somehow better?
    1. Re:60 gazillion millions by wanderers_id · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I'm on my 3rd too. And i wanted to say thanks to BEST BUY for giving me two of them FOR FREE!

      Their product replacement plan is definatly worth it for the PS2. I bought one for $300 and when it broke, Best Buy gave me a new one, and since the price had dropped to $200, they gave me the diference back in store credit and let me buy another replacement plan. So I took in my broke PS2 and walked out with a new one with new warranty and a FREE GAME!

      That one broke and I returned it for ANOTHER a few days ago.

  4. Re:Haul or Loss? by phorm · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I think this only counts for a certain period. basically up to when your slim sales-margin isn't beating the cost of R&D, development etc. I don't think it means the hardware itself costs more than the sale price.

    Eventually, the R&D costs are paid off, and even with a smaller profit margin (lowered console price) you'll see a good profit for a high sales margin (assuming that most of these make it off the shelf)