Playstation 3 Sells Out At Japanese Launch

s31523 writes "With its high price tag and stiff competition the PS3 was a gamble. Based on the reaction in Japan to the game console's release, there might be a new hot toy on everyone's Christmas list here in the states. According to the article there were 100,000 units [Z: actually, only 80,000 units] available and all were sold out in record time. There are 2 configurations currently offered, a 60GB WiFi enabled box and a 20GB non-WiFi box. The Japanese price for the lower end system is considerably discounted vs. the system to be released in the States." For a look at launch day, Kotaku has photos taken by Sony's Phil Harrison on the streets of Tokyo.

Comments

Sony's Strategy

[d3ik]

1. Manufacture a ridiculously low amount of units 2. Sell out of those units at a highly discounted rate 3. MAKE NO PROFIT!! 4. Declare victory

Sony Rhetoric

[dublinclontarf]

Sony are going to be touting the "fastest sellout ever", I mean, if I had only a single console to sell, and I sold it straight away, wouldnt that be the fastest sellout ever? I'm really wondering how Sony are going to do when they actually are able to produce more. Will the PS3 be a success?

I am not surprised

[MemoryDragon]

The first one million consoles will be an easy sell for sony all over the world, this is basically the hardcore fans who buy everything, but after that, it will be interesting how the console will sell. You can see that with every major console, that the initial sales are high, there always is enough fanboys who dont matter how much it is for the console, they just want to have it.

Re:I am not surprised

[illegalcortex]

Not really, unless you want to call everybody who plans to purchase a HD TV this year an outlier. That would be how many million outliers?

Your logic is a bit problematic. How does your statement I personally won't bat an eye about dropping $600 on this box. After all, I'm picking up a $2,500 flat screen tv to go with it. equal to everybody who plans to purchase a HD TV this year?

Hint: To get you started, first look at the pricing of the models that all these people will be buying. Ask yourself - will most people be buying the $2,500 models, or does that perhaps skew a bit high? Then ask yourself - how many of the people who buy an HDTV will also be paying $600 for a PS3? Last, ask yourself "how many will be paying $600 for a PS3 without having to think hard about it." Then pick up a dictionary and look up outlier.

Big freakin' deal.

[EvilCabbage]

So?

The Super Nintendo sold out 300,000 units.

Sony provide less than a hundred thousand to an amazingly gadget hungry market and it's now headlines that it sells out?

And in terms of all system sales...

[yeoua]

http://www.joystiq.com/2006/11/10/japanese-hardwar e-sales-30-october-5-november-incredibly-inn/

Notice the amount of hardware sold... in a week... in Japan. The DS completely dominates with more than 100,000 sold in a WEEK. This is months after it has launched, while the PS3 has only 80,000 to sell. Now yes, the DS costs much less, but notice that Nintendo probably makes a profit on it rather than a loss, AND this amount of units allows them to sell more software.

How much software is going to move for the PS3 when it's launch is only 80,000? Most of those best seller games are in the area of several 100 thousand to several million units sold. That isn't going to happen for a while. So yes the PS3 sold out, but we can't call it any kind of success yet with this few sold. Maybe if they pushed out 1 million units and sold them all, then we can say they were a success.

Re:The very definition of "hardcore"

[archen]

There's also a nice gem of a quote in the user comments in the BBC article.

since Sony has messed about with the European launch date, I have flown all the way to Japan to get my hands on one.

To myself I think - it must be nice to be able to afford to buy a PS3. Must be nice to be able to afford to go to Japan. Lots of things to see there like districts in Tokyo, shrines, Japanese food. Yeah, interesting that you'd just fly to Japan, get a PS3 then fly home. I'd probably sell the thing, but if you have enough money to fly to Japan for no reason other than to buy a game console, you obviously don't need the money!

Re:The very definition of "hardcore"

[An Anonymous Coward]

Either you're misunderstanding his tone, or I'm misunderstanding your tone. This is the way I read the post:

"LOL. At first I thought you were making a reference to the movie 'Real Genius', but then I realized that the name of the guy in that movie was Laslow, and then I remembered my Psychology courses...."

80,000 - at rrp?

[goldcd]

LikSang could have shifted that

Re:As usual...

[alchemy101]

I'm not trying to defend the PS3 if it is indeed hot, but i think that there is a difference if the heat is being expelled from the machine (which means the fan is doing a good job) and if the machine is hot itself.