Sony stood at the top of the world last generation, as the PS2 annihilated the console competition in sales. When the PS3 launched, they fell into last place, as the PS2 successor was outsold by the Wii and Xbox 360 – the latter of which already had a year head start. Things are now looking a bit bittersweet for the console giant, with the PS3 taking the top console spot this year in Europe, while the Vita doesn’t do so hot.
Surprisingly, the news came not from Sony but Nintendo’s Satoru Iwata, who released data at an investor’s meeting to show their competitors console as selling around 70 000 units a week. Despite the PS3′s slow start, sales have turned around for Sony’s black box as console prices decrease and Blu-rays increase in popularity.
In North America, sales figures tell a different story. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 has been the top seller month after month; though with the recent PS3 price cut, who knows what April’s numbers will look like, especially with the unveiling of new exclusives God of War: Ascension and PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. Last year it was reported that the PS3 is catching up to the Xbox 360 in terms of worldwide sales, though with next gen consoles just around the corner, there’s no telling how long the lifecycles of the current consoles will last.
“The UK market is virtually the only market in Europe where the Xbox 360 has a strong presence.”
While the PS3 does well in Europe, its mobile counterpart is struggling. Sony’s latest handheld was off to a great start when it launched, but for the past few weeks the Vita has been the second worse selling console, even being sold out by its predecessor, the PSP. From
Check out Nintendo’s hardware chart to get a breakdown of all major platforms:
The situation is similar in Japan, where the Vita sells just over 8,000 units a week, and is constantly outsold by the PSP. This isn’t too surprising considering the PSP’s presence in Japan, but it’s kind of shocking that the Vita isn’t doing as well in Europe. Of course, this could all be attributed to a lack of compelling software, especially as the next big Vita release does not land until the end of May. There are still a variety of major Vita games on the way, including the Call of Duty Vita title, Sound Shapes and the recently announced Soul Sacrifice, though those are still a long ways off. Hopefully things will pick up for the Vita soon with E3 announcements on the horizon, because it really is an impressive piece of hardware.
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Source: Eurogamer
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The PS3 had an excellent start, the launch lineup was WAY better than the Xbox360 launch lineup 13 months earlier. The problem is boneheads that didn’t compare like for like.
Vita had an even better launch lineup, the best of any console launch ever.
Not surprise.
The vita had an ok luanch, but quickly died becuase the lack of features and games. Ps3 has worse start becuase it was 500$ for a 20gb hard drive, and the ps3 had no trophies and the only good game was motorstorm
I think all video game systems, be they handheld or console, will begin trending like this. Very slow starting sales due to numerous factors (price, lack of games, etc.) and then they will slowly begin to pick up speed.
Honestly, I was initially surprised at talk of next-gen systems, since in my opinion this gen is really just hitting its stride, but it makes sense if Sony & Microsoft have figured this out as well.
The PS3 & 360 will have legs well into the next gen as the new consoles slowly gain steam.