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Game Consoles Sell Over 3.2 Million Units in November
Ground Glass writes "While there wasn't any question that November was going to be a huge month for gaming (what with those two consoles coming out and all), it's still impressive to see the numbers. In short, Nintendo's DS was the big winner with over 600,000 units sold, though the Wii and Xbox 360 also each broke half a million. The PS3 probably came in at around 200K all told for the month. Convert those numbers into dollars and you're looking at one very fat and happy industry." From the Next Generation article: "In its monthly report analyst Arcadia Investment says console sales in November topped 3.2 million units. Arcadia says hardware sales increased by at least 50% year on year, with software up about 20%. Retail dollars increased by about 25-30% to about $1.6 billion, compared to $1.3 billion in November 2005. "
Remember when Nintendo had a game machine that was low-powered, but had an innovative control scheme many initially derided as gimmicky, and it was in direct competition with a higher-powered, much more expensive, Sony product which could play movies in a new and effectively proprietary format?
Apparently, it wasn't a bad plan.
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(Numbers are approximate, they didn't have exact numbers in the article)
DS (600K+) > XBox360 (500K++) > PS2 (500K+) > Wii (500K) > PSP (350K) > PS3 (~200K)
It looks like the PS2 and the Xbox 360 are both outselling the new consoles- which is surprising to me. Still, it seems Nintendo is the big winner, since they are selling an average of two games per Wii on top of actually selling a console for a profit. Microsoft seems to be doing a lot better with their 360 sales than I expected they would- I guess people decided getting a Wii or PS3 wasn't worth the effort when there was an good console readily available.
You are reading a copy of my copyrighted post.
Of the big 3, generally only Nintendo actually makes a profit off their gaming systems in the first year of release.
By some estimates Sony is subsidizing the PS3 to the tune of $300/unit while Microsoft is probably just about breaking even on systems. The big money for Microsoft and Sony comes from game sales, and the only solid numbers I've seen in that category were for Zelda units for the Wii (400k+).
So on the money side Nintendo has made a hefty profit from their 1.1 million+ units sold, Microsoft, having learned their lesson the the original XBox is probably doing ok especially with their major head start in game sales, while Sony needs to get more of their systems into peoples homes to try and generate more disc sales. Sony's saving grace may be that they'll also get money from the boost in blu-ray movie sales.
Of course that's just my opinion...... you could be wrong!
The 360 would have had to sell in the 700k+ range to have any chance of breaking out of its sales rut. So far the 360 is tracking just under the first Xbox's first year sales - some months higher, some lower.
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4.5 million 360s worldwide as of October:
http://static.flickr.com/108/313180999_44f2d9c7dd
At Frys a couple days ago there were two enormous stacks of 360s out in the console area(and who knows how many more in the back) and other people are saying the same thing about their local BestBuys. So it looks like Microsoft is trying to flood the retail stores in an attempt to be able to claim some shipped console number near 10 million. Can't be a smart move since there are going to be piles of 360s sitting around for the next few months and they are going to have to undership next quarter and any little benefit they get from claiming higher shipment numbers now will be offset with the reciprocal low shipment news next quarter.
Could have been 3.2M + 1, but there are no Wii's to be found here, the store had 20 units the first day, and sold out since.
Sony keeps heavy advertising about the PS3, but what good does it do if they get me interested in it, all to have me go down to the store to look at an empty shelf... It's having the opposite effect, more of a turn off than getting me to want one at this point.
I thought Nintendo shipped 1 million of these things at launch, so where are the other 500,000? They sure as hell aren't sitting on shelves.
Nintendo's "profit" comes purely from them selling a system for more than its components. This doesn't take into consideration R&D, marketing, advertising, etc.
Xbox 360s are as "profitable" now as Wiis are since R&D costs can be spread out over millions of units instead of the big N's one million.
"Convert those numbers into dollars and you're looking at one very fat and happy industry."
:)
:)
The only people we know for sure that's happy about all those consoles being moved is Nintendo.
*(1) Although, if you take console sales as an indirect indicator of software sales, then yes, the other guys would be happy too. More on this later
What we do know is this:
* Nintendo makes money on the Wii, right out of the gate.
* Nintendo makes money on each DS Lite sold.
* Sony's PS3 is losing $200-$300US (we don't exactly how much they're losing, but most analysts say about that range)
* Sony's PS2 hardware is profitable now.
* Microsoft was losing money on the Xbox360 at launch, but they've been working hard to reduce the cost to produce the 360, so it may be breaking even at this point. Only Microsoft knows.
So, Nintendo is certainly happy, Sony is happy PS2 still rakes it in but doesn't make up for PS3's enourmous costs, and Microsoft is happy to just be in the fight
*(1) Consoles moved means more software sales, which is where Microsoft and Sony plan to make their money back. (Nintendo makes money from selling ANYTHING with Nintendo on it, so we know they'll make money on software. They arguably make the most on software than any other single console game producer) Seems the internet believes Microsoft is enjoying a good software sales rate for their xbox360, they won't say of course. Meanwhile, Sony is just mum. Why? well, doesn't seem the attach rate for the PS3 is doing so hot in the US or Japan. So Sony's still far away from making money on their new system.
My point? The industry may or may not be happy, we don't know for sure, but we do know, Nintendo is happy with these numbers
PS WTF's with the 0.98 attach rate for PS3 in Japan?! That's amazing to me. I know lots of people are flipping these on ebay, but even in the land of the rising sun, people aren't buying it to play games. That's bad news. Japan's a huge Sony supporter. If they lose Japan, they're in trouble.
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If you convert to dollars that is $2m for Nintendo, $40m loss for Sony, and $5m loss for Microsoft.
GPL Deconstructed
Perhaps you'll want to visit the site http://nexgenwars.com/ to get a daily update on console sales.
You must not follow the news. http://www.isuppli.com/news/default.asp?id=6919 I suspect MS isn't getting the whole $75, they are probably taking $50 and leaving retailers with $25 per unit, so that they have more incentive to push 360 sales.
There's a dirty little trick there that Sony's used before. What you do is recall the overshipment, and then re-ship to places that need it. You get to count those consoles as shipped twice. Nice isn't it?
Yes, it is. He said "early." While there were some nice looking "launch window" titles, lots looked like high-res PS2 games. Look at shit like Tony Hawk's or Gun.
Yes, cross-platform games often look worse on the Cube than on the Xbox. That's due to bad ports, not due to the Cube - your PS2 comparison should have told you that. Look at games made specifically for the Cube. Compare the best-looking Cube games to the best-looking Xbox games, and then tell me the Xbox is significantly faster than the Cube. The Cube has games like Resident Evil 4 or Metroid Prime. The Xbox has some nice looking games, too, but nothing that really outshines the Cube's offerings.
As with all EU countries, we have to wait until April 2007 for a PS3, missing the lucrative Christmas season. I don't suppose Sony sees this as a problem - it could easily sell its entire output of consoles elsewhere - but it means a lot of people will be picking up a 360 or Wii instead.
That's lost customers, and the chances of them coming back to Sony are slim. Of the Sony fanboys I've spoken to, most are incredibly blunt about how badly Sony treats EU countries with hardware releases; a year wait for the PSP, and a 5 month wait for the PS3. I won't be buying a PS3 personally because I think it's stale, overpriced and I don't have room for another console - my Wii should be arriving tomorrow.
So this Christmas - here at least - I'd expect the 360 and the Nintendo DS to clear up. Lack of Wii's in huge numbers and a damn excellent games roster make the 360 incredibly attractive. The DS also has the advantage of a much better games range than the PSP, and as both machines are rumoured to talk to their next gen consoles, it will be interesting to see whether the PSP/DS battle translates into PS3/Wii sales. I suspect it will.
However you cut it, Sony have a huge uphill battle here in the UK. I suspect they'll sell quite a lot of PS3's in April, but their ability to innovate has waned and I think they'll pay the price for it.
Uhm, the development costs are already accounted for. Nintendo paid them. It was in their past reports. The Wii isn't yet profitable as a project, but it is profitable in that it helps Nintendo make a profit at the end of the next quarter. Every Wii sold makes Nintendo money. Every PS3 sold makes Sony lose money.
Single game, or single genre? There are plenty of mode 7 racing games that work. Even non-racing games can use mode 7 to improve the overall quality of experience. Start with Pilotwings, then see Actraiser that uses it for cut scenes or Super Mario RPG that uses it for a mine cart level.
There are many services that allow you to track online inventory, but it seems that even when they are there - it is only for a few minutes at best. I would kill for a PS3 right now - but dont want to pay ebay ransom either. Here are my two favs:
http://www.zootalor.com/ and http://ps3tracker.com/
One runs local so you can get zero lag response - the other tracks inventory at the brick and morter.
Cool stuff.