US hardware sales in May: PS2 on the rise, 360 takes a dip [update 1]

by Ross Miller { Jun 9th 2006 at 4:55PM }

The hardware sales for US consoles has been released, here's how it broke down, in terms of total unit sales and difference (in percentage) from April:

PlayStation 2: 232,000 ( 12.1%)
Sony PSP: 159,659 ( 17.1%)
Nintendo DS: 145,930 ( 5.4%)
Xbox 360: 221,000 ( 25%)
GameCube: 33,000 ( 13.2%)
Xbox One: 26,000 ( 33.3%)

~~The sales data for the PSP and DS have yet to be released.~~ With the summer drought upon us, expect hardware sales to either decline or remain stagnant as we move closer to the holiday season. We were a bit surprised by the PlayStation 2's increase in sales, which we can only attribute to the release of the mega-selling Kingdom Hearts II or the announced PlayStation 3 price deterring future customers.

[update 1: added handheld sales]

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

DG @ Jun 9th 2006 4:57PM

I guess that $20 price cut worked after all.

Let us never question Sony again.

ethan @ Jun 9th 2006 5:00PM

Ha PS2 is selling more consoles than the 360. Sony rules 4ever.

Jay @ Jun 9th 2006 5:03PM

It's not that surprising ... didn't the price drop hit stores around April 20? That's a third of the month left for sales, and people started getting tax returns. It's only an increase of around 27,000.

Carter @ Jun 9th 2006 5:03PM

Hey ethan, that's 232,000 consumers that will not be buying a PS3 anytime soon.

jOEfRO @ Jun 9th 2006 5:03PM

hey ethan sony only is selling more ps2's than 360's b/c the 360 will set you back at least 500 with a game and the ps2 will cost you about 175 with a game, so really sony has the poor vote in america and the dont rule and they never will

Colin @ Jun 9th 2006 5:05PM

Just couldn't resist the dig on sony could you Joystiq? ;)

Why you gotta but a brother down like that? Come on, you know you like Sony. They're all big and comfortable, holding you gently in their embrace.

And I've heard the 360 has a couple STDs. You deserve better than that.

-Colin

Colin @ Jun 9th 2006 5:06PM

Hey jOEfRO:

OMG!1)LOLO!!! SONY SUCKZORS!!!!

illdamage @ Jun 9th 2006 5:08PM

We all know the PS2 is the current gen fav. Let's see how they do in the next Gen shall we.

Bedpanjohn @ Jun 9th 2006 5:11PM

haha crazy fan boy fighting

microsoft kind of has the upper hand becasue they have both the xbox one and 360 selling, but the profit margin for the 360 isnt as high as the ps2.... however, i really dont care either way.

ethan @ Jun 9th 2006 5:13PM

they'll rule!

Xander224 @ Jun 9th 2006 5:13PM

HAHAHA!

Where are all the 360 fanboys that claimed these sales would spike after E3?

Looks like everyone is still waiting for the PS3!

Darth Pixel @ Jun 9th 2006 5:20PM

Ah, it reminds me of my my last blog entry: http://darthpixel.com/

I remember reading: "After E3 06, Sony's sales will dive, as more people switch to Xbox 360."

I guess it's not happening.

The morale of the story:

No platform-selling game = No platform sales

This eternal truth remains true.

The same thing will apply to Sony and Nintendo. Games sell consoles, people, it's not the other way around.

Lagomorpho @ Jun 9th 2006 5:25PM

I think what is happening is people are realizing they will not be buying the PS3 so they are just picking up a PS2 now.

aegies @ Jun 9th 2006 5:27PM

Or the april sales numbers could just be an inordinately large spike due to oblivion and ghost recon and the lack of any console sellers in may? if you look at the console sales numbers, the 360 numbers are higher for may than they were for february or march, which were other months that lacked big titles. on the other hand, the ps2's numbers have been shrinking over the last 5 months, and spiked after the release of kingdom hearts 2 (and a price cut). in fact, april and may are the two worst months for ps2 console sales in the last 4 years. so the numbers for may aren't really telling the whole story here. what the numbers are saying is that people are still investing in the ps2, which isn't neccesarily great news for sony. the more people buying your previous generation effort, the less people you'll have willing to invest in a new platform. add to this the fact that the 360 is only now finally becoming widely available, and you're left with a slightly different picture.

Vivio @ Jun 9th 2006 5:28PM

The BIG guns haven't come out yet...

Gears of War
Halo 3
MASS Effect
Etc, Etc, Etc

Matt @ Jun 9th 2006 5:29PM

I know I'm considering buying a PS2 since Sony's E3 presser. The main reason I was originally considering buying a PS3 was to play back catalogue PS2 games near the begin of the console's life. Now I figure I'll just save the money and buy a PS2 and wait to buy a PS3.

dose1 @ Jun 9th 2006 5:30PM

could it be because the 360 has no games. ding ding ding

Rare Hare @ Jun 9th 2006 5:33PM

it's so funny how the microsoft fanboys immediately get so defensive and start making excuses left and right..

Vivio @ Jun 9th 2006 5:36PM

Rare Hare, It's because we know that MS will conquer the world (American style). Dumb @ss!

Clay @ Jun 9th 2006 5:40PM

Who in the world would buy a PS2 now?

vaylen @ Jun 9th 2006 5:41PM

Sony knows that for at least another year, the real $$$ to be made is still with the PS2 generation of consoles, where they continue to pummel the competition. After that year is over the money will begin to shift to next-gen, which is when the heavy hitting games for the PS3 will be coming out. Spin the news however you want, Ballmer-heads, but the money doesn't lie.

nootau @ Jun 9th 2006 5:51PM

Sony has stated that the ps2 will be around long after the ps3 release. Sony is using the ps2 as their low-end platform, taking cues from nintendo and the gba/ds market. Sony knows that for every ps2 puchase the odds of a 360 purchase goes down. Sony will keep the ps2 alive with AAA games such as god of war 2, etc. Its an ingenuous plan, notice the crossplatform 360-ps2 games? sony just needs to keep up the image of the ps2 and encourage development, since it has the largest install base of this gen(...and next gen), it shouldnt be hard...plus touting the backwards compadibility of the ps3 (and maybe having special features that only work on the ps3 a la zelda-Wii), sony has the upper hand. Sony doesnt need high numbers for the ps3 initially. they can wait and let the manufacturing cost of the ps3 drop...all the while battling microsoft at the high end AND low end...this will be a very interesting battle.

for the record i'll be getting a wii and a 360 (i want to try out prey)

Darth Pixel @ Jun 9th 2006 5:52PM

The point is: I don't see how Microsoft could sell 10M Xbox 360s by November.
I think they should be happy if they sell 5M by then.

Supachecka @ Jun 9th 2006 5:52PM

After E3 Sony Fanboys realized, PS3 has PS2 graphics. So why wait? Lets buy a PS2.

Andir @ Jun 9th 2006 5:53PM

Let's see...how does everyone end their comments...

oh yeah, it was something like

WiiS3 rules!!!

Jason W @ Jun 9th 2006 5:53PM

As a so called MS fanboy I must say I bought another ps2(my 3rd one in this consoles life cycle) after E3. I had thought about getting a PS3 but the price was way to high and the 360 had better games at E3 so the PS2 was a good stand in.
Wow a 20 buck price drop and a few thousand more consoles sold and you would think they doubled the sales chart. Damn people its just video games. Fun crazy past time it is.

Jeff @ Jun 9th 2006 5:55PM

I'm still waiting for the claims that all these people are just buying new PS2's to replace broken ones. We're 23 posts in already - usually the first one crops up around post #6. You'd think some people would be on their 20th or 30th PS2 by now!

jOEfRO @ Jun 9th 2006 5:55PM

hey dose1

the 360 has MANY good games, such as: Geometry Wars2, Oblivion, COD2, PDZ, Kameo, PGR3, GRAW, FNR3, Marble Blast Ultra, and many, Many, MANY more to come, as mentioned by Vivio, and obvously u are a rich stupid sony fanboy and u will never face the reality that is sony makes crap products, its true ppl look it up

Xbox 360 Will Dominate @ Jun 9th 2006 5:57PM

The Xbox 360 will dominate. People the system hasnt even released its killer apps yet. Gears of War and Halo 3.

When Gears of War comes out his holiday season you will see the Xbox 360 simply destroy the PS3 in sales and every other console for that matter. Further that wave will be continued when Halo 3 comes out in the first part of 2007.

Moral of this story is that Xbox 360 will sell 10 million units before the PS3 is released and will easily dominate them when these big guns are released with an Xbox 360 price drop.

So if you are trying to hate dont. Not to mention it is summer time. Hell I might go pick up a PS2 now that the price dropped. I dont plan on buying a PS3. $600.00 for a console with no games is ridiculous.

ac @ Jun 9th 2006 6:03PM

supachecka that was just stupid , wow I guess your eyes have some MS giz in them. You fanboys are stupid, ps2 is selling because of its awesome human attracting powers, plus they have the biggest current-gen gaming library + god of war 2

glitched @ Jun 9th 2006 6:04PM

Or they realized that the PS2 is in the prime of its life, with some of the best games of ANY console this or next gen. (not to mention one of the largest install base ever) And you HAVE to admit that some of the last ps2 games (like God of War 2) look AMAZING for being on an OLD system that wasnt known for the best graphics of its time.

You guys who like to rip and compare on graphics, wait 4 or 5 more years when both systems are mature systems to compare. not when one system is on 1st gen games and the other system isnt even 100% complete yet.

Night Elve @ Jun 9th 2006 6:06PM

@ 4. Well i already have a Xbox 360 and im going to buy a PlayStation 3 at launch day, so im not part of your statistic :P.

@25. Huh? PS3 equal to PS2 Graphics? Yes just like PS2 equal to Atari Graphics right?

SuicideNinja @ Jun 9th 2006 6:10PM

aegies, #14, you are right on the money.

The games are driving the hardware sales. Oblivion and GRAW were moving consoles. We'll see another spike in the fall when the big releases start hitting. And I'm not just talking 360 spike. PS2, PSP, and DS as well. When Zelda comes out, there *might* be an increase in Gamecube sales...but I don't see why someone wouldn't just buy a Wii if they are under $200.

Since I hate Sony (as a company), I'll have to say the following to be an ass:

This just means that 232,000 people got a DRE with their other PS2 and bought a new one.

Wii60 @ Jun 9th 2006 6:11PM

lmao at Pedro and every body else who thinks MS will sell 5 millions xbox 360 only by November 2006. Unless I'm wrong, they already sold 5millions or almost!

and Pedro, what is so 1.5 about Xbox 360? The graphics are clearly not inferior compared to PS3. Even Sony copies every single Xbox 360 functions, except the added Blu Ray, which is just a trojan to win the next generation DVD.

You can buy 3 PS2 for the price of X360.
The xbox 360 is still at the hardcore gamers purchase level, it didn't even reach the mainstream mass purchase as the PS2 currently enjoys. So you can't compare.
and yes, Wii60 for the price of a PS3.
Of course, with the eventual price drop of Xbox 360 at ps3's launch, that Wii60 value is even better!

OpnickC @ Jun 9th 2006 6:12PM

This isn't surprising. I know several people interested in buying a PS2 right now. They can grab the system and a bunch of used games for really cheap. Perfect for those who don't have the console. I did the same thing with the gamecube.

This isn't good news for sony, all this says is that people would rather pay less money for an old system than more for a brand new one.

And as Carter said, that's a whole bunch of people with little to no incentive to get a PS3 any time soon.

YourParody @ Jun 9th 2006 6:16PM

jOEfRO says:

"...sony only is selling more ps2's than 360's b/c the 360 will set you back at least 500 with a game and the ps2 will cost you about 175 with a game, so really sony has the poor vote in america and the dont rule and they never will."

Hello jOEfRo, the bottom line is: From April of this year, Sony has managed to get 11,000 more units of it's *second* generation console into people's homes than Microsoft has with it's latest and greatest. Not bad, considering the PS2 launched way back in October 2000. Since then, Sony has sold over 100 Million PS2's making it the undisputed market leader.

So believe you me, they rule. They absolutely dominate.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_2

Sony Press Release:
http://www.scei.co.jp/corporate/release/pdf/051130e.pdf

Rory W. @ Jun 9th 2006 6:29PM

I fail to understand how more Ps2 can be selling than X360's.
I know they are cheap but come on: Who do you now that doesnt have a Ps2. One of my friends had 3 :)
He was pretty clumsy, i should say.

Nice stats, Joystiq

AJ @ Jun 9th 2006 6:32PM

Darth Pixel,

If game consoles were only sold in the US and no where else, then I would say you are right that the 360 will be lucky to get to 5 Million units sold by November. But if you would just read the title of the article you would realize that these figures are for the US ONLY. According to the data on the linked site, the US comprises 40% of the 360's sold. I think that 10 Million still sounds very achievable.

Sean D. @ Jun 9th 2006 6:39PM

I'll agree that the primary reason for the increase in PS2 sales was the price drop to $130.

I just got my first PS2 in December and I love it. I play the hell out of Guitar Hero, the Katamari games, God of War, and most recently THUG2. I've also enjoyed the Prince of Persia series, Ico, and Shadow of the Colossus. I was never interested in getting the console until I tried Guitar Hero (definitely the killer app for me and three of my friends). And there's still a few more games on the way that I can't wait to get my hands on (Guitar Hero 2, God of War 2, and Lumines Plus). I for one am not swooned by all the graphics horsepower that the current systems boast- just give me a fun game that's fun to play with friends. Believe it or not, before I got the PS2, I was still playing my Dreamcast on a regular basis (Puyo Puyo Fever, Ikaruga, Dead or Alive 2 SE). And before that, I was still playing my SNES...

I'm getting a Nintendo DS on Sunday (again, late to the party), and I'm planning on preordering a Wii as soon as I can too (the first system I've been interested in getting at launch since the NES).

360 rulz @ Jun 9th 2006 6:51PM

#15- YEA-A-A-A-A!! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Xander224 @ Jun 9th 2006 6:51PM

HAHA! Now the fanboys are climing there's no good games out yet.
What happened to GRAW, Oblivion and Fight Night Round 3?

I thought these were the best games ever?

epobirs @ Jun 9th 2006 6:54PM

I greatly doubt that any E3 announcements had any bnig influence on sales. People who avidly watch the industry tend to forget that far more people are in the market for consoles who make most of their decisions based on what they see on the store shelves.

A lull in sales isn't surprising. The early adopters have their machines and the spike from the last major game releases has had time to fade. The current rate of sales would add another million to the installed base by Novemeber but it is growth of the game library that will make for the majority of sales if the company's stated goal is reached.

Some people will buy a console early on with the full knowledge that the game they really want is many months away from release. Others are content to wait until that game has shipped. The latter will account for a substantial sales spike when titles like 'Gears of War' are released. For others it will be 'Blue Dragon' and others still will have other titles that mark the day when the machine is worth buying. GTA4, Too Human, Mass Effect, etc. There are still others who won't have a particular game in mind but will make the purchase when the store shelves present a certain number of titles to say the platform is ready for prime time.

I used to get almost every system at launch. (I could usually wrangle some kind of major discount.) But I've become oversaturated with the backlog of unplayed games in my collection. The Xbox 360 is desirable in general to me but there hasn't been a game released yet that makes me finally spend the money. I can wait to see if 'Blue Dragon' is good or not. The machine is selling fine without me as an early adopter.

Bloo @ Jun 9th 2006 6:55PM

39 comments in and no one thinks maybe a big reason for the PS2 sales is that it's one third of the price?

Repsode @ Jun 9th 2006 7:00PM

I don't know if this is anything for the sony fanboys to be cheery about, in fact they probably should be concerned.

I wouldn't be surprised if this equates to a loss of interest in ps3 by those still on the fence.

for every PS2 sold at this point is one less ps3 sold this christmas.
Personally I wouldn't be surpised if the the PS2 outsold its successor this year.

Vivio @ Jun 9th 2006 7:12PM

Are you still waiting for the P$3??? You can play next-Gen TODAY, just stop by your local retail store...

The Xbox 360 is going to clean house - Guaranteed! The P$3 is going to be too expensive, like everything else $ony sells. MS will drop the price soon, you watch!

GAME-ON Brothers!!!

glitched @ Jun 9th 2006 7:12PM

To Repsode

of course the PS2 will outsell all this xmas... its cheap and has the most games/ big name games to this xmas.

and no this is not a concern for ps3. entirely different audiences will be purchasing the ps2 compared to the ps3. then those same people who buy a ps2 now, will prolly buy the ps3 when it to comes down in price.

only early adopters will get the ps3. Sony intends to continue supporitn the ps2. just like they continued to support the ps1.

dose1 @ Jun 9th 2006 7:14PM

#43 oblivion is a great game............for a PC with crossfire or sli...lol

Railszach @ Jun 9th 2006 7:19PM

Well I guess the PS2 still rocks after all these years and triple A titles...i guess more people are buying PS2s because they realize that they need to take out a loan to get a PS3 lol

Canadian Geese @ Jun 9th 2006 7:24PM

Everywhere I turn, I keep hearing about how poor this summers game lineup is.

Then two great games come out on the PS2 along with a price drop while other console makers are concentrating on the fall.

I don't find these charts to be all that exciting.

I've heard a couple people talk about how PS2 buying probably means less PS3 buying and I agree (although supply still won't meet demand so it won't affect the PS3's initial numbers).

I've heard a couple people mention that the PS2 spike may be because of broken consoles, and I agree (although I seriously doubt this is a big chunk of the sales).

I've heard a couple people mention that the 360's holiday lineup will reflect a huge spike in 360's, and I agree (although I still know a lot of people that are waiting to see what the PS3 really looks like, but they also don't pay nearly as much attention to gaming news. In fact, most of these people are still basing their opinion on last years E3 PS3, not this years PS3).

I've heard a couple of people say that the 360 will struggle to sell 10 million before November 17th, and I half agree. I think that MS has set the bar pretty high, but it's the upcoming holiday season that will really tell the tale. I hear more and more people talk about the 360 and are showing more and more interest. I think there will be a very large spike in sales this holiday season, for every console, and it's all going to come down to how much of a percentage MS takes. People tend to learn more about the product before they buy it, and everything I read points to the 360. Will the information in October keep pointing in the same direction?

Who knows, but at least this sales chart has given Sony fans their day in the sun.

The ZeroCorpse @ Jun 9th 2006 7:34PM

A lot of the PS2s I've been selling lately have been to people who tell me they're replacing a dead one, or getting one now that they're cheap so they can put it in their car, camper, van, cottage, or SUV.

So yeah, they're selling well. Reduce this by the number of them that are just replacing busted units, though, and the Xbox 360 is the #1 seller in NEW consoles in the home.

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