Japanese hardware sales, 19 June - 25 June: the bigger they are
by Ludwig Kietzmann 
{ Jun 30th 2006 at 3:25PM }
... the harder they fall. The Japanese population's brief rekindling of their romance with the DS Phat, showing a massive 1559% increase in sales last week, seems to have died out for now. Our obese friend takes the sharpest fall this week, with slimmer, trimmer machines like the Game Boy Micro and DS Lite faring better. The ranking, according to number of units sold:- DS Lite: 157,022
15,535 (10.98%)- PS2: 25,467
4,730 (22.81%)- PSP: 24,737
84 (0.34%)- DS Phat: 10,132
12,616 (55.46%)- GBA SP: 3,784
858 (18.48%)- Game Boy Micro: 1,502
208 (16.07%)- Gamecube: 1,197
195 (19.46%)- Xbox 360: 1,169
238 (16.92%)- GBA: 25
5 (25.00%)- Xbox: 10
5 (33.33%)The rest of the chart seems intentionally unremarkable, with the Lite reigning on top and the spinless Xbox sweeping the ground floor. Very soon, it will be expected to clean up the explosion of confetti and glitter accompanying the launch of the Noble Pink DS Lite.
[Source: Media Create]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
SuperChuck @ Jun 30th 2006 3:32PM
If I were in Japan, I'd be tempted to buy an xbox just so I could be "one of ten" :)
Baboon @ Jun 30th 2006 3:39PM
Poor DS Phat, I still love you!
I guess since Nintendo is ramping up its lite production, not as many people needed to buy a phat to satisfy that junky twitch.
guywhoknows @ Jun 30th 2006 3:49PM
I recently was able to get my hands on both the Lite and the Phat just a few days ago. Why 10,000 plus people still even bought the Phat is beyond me, unless of course they were giving them away.
Derbeste @ Jun 30th 2006 3:54PM
ok.....number crunching time
- DS lite accounts for 70% of all consoles sold in Japan. This means it sold almost as many as ALL other consoles COMBINEDx3!!
- All of Nintendos consoles account for 77% of all consoles sold in Japan. (This, of course, means that all Nintendo consoles other than DS lite accounted for only 7% of consoles sold)
- Sony consoles accounted for 22% of all consoles sold.
- MS consoles accounted for .5% of all consoles sold.....................ouch.
Other interesting tidbits:
- The gamecube outsold the Xbox 360.
- Original Xbox accounts for .00002% of consoles. I just had to run that 5 units in. hehe
- PSP and PS2 are selling about the same number of units. I find that fascinating for some reason.
- Hand helds account for 88% of all consoles sold......WOW. It's no wonder MS is looking to get into the hand held game.
Night Elve @ Jun 30th 2006 4:00PM
Well yeah same history every week. Nintendo DS selling a lot of units and PSP / Ps2 selling well.
Yeah of course PSP is way behind from DS but still is in the game and kickin.
Linkgcn4 @ Jun 30th 2006 4:04PM
Nice, look at the amazing numbers of the Xbox!
Zacky V @ Jun 30th 2006 4:06PM
Prey demo now on Marketplace...btw its going really fast (1.17G)
glitched @ Jun 30th 2006 4:15PM
I cant beleive that the original Xbox still has shelf space in japan... 10 units a week?
Derbeste @ Jun 30th 2006 4:20PM
Even more tidbits:
- Nintendo hand helds account for 88% of the hand held market.
- PSP, of course, accounts for the remaining 12% (funny how Sony said the DS wouldn't be much competition and was a gimick.)
- Xbox percentage was so low that my calculator had to display it in scientific notation (2.3e-5). I'm sorry...I just can't help snickering.
32_Footsteps @ Jun 30th 2006 4:28PM
Let me get this straight... the PSP sells 1 unit for nearly every 7 units the DS sells. It's considered to be doing well and "still kickin'".
In the US, the GC sold roughly one unit for every 7 PS2 units, and it was "utterly wiped out" according to some people.
I must be missing something here. Pass the Kool-Aid.
GSI @ Jun 30th 2006 4:29PM
--> (funny how Sony said the DS wouldn't be much competition and was a gimick.)
You forgot to add that they also said the PSP would bring portable gaming out of the "portable gaming ghetto."
Derbeste @ Jun 30th 2006 4:32PM
ok ok....just ONE more jab at Xbox and I'm done.......maybe.
Xbox units are down 5 while ORIGINAL GBA units are up 5.
Coincidence? /snicker
DG @ Jun 30th 2006 4:35PM
I love these hardware sale listings. I love the fact that just 10 Japanese consumers decided the Xbox would be a good use of yen. I love the fact that a portable game system lapped the field several times over. I love that Microsoft's grand ambition of making a presence in Japan has totally, utterly failed. I love that I get these results every Friday afternoon before leaving work and I can enjoy the nonsense that comes forth.
Thank you, Joystiq.
Bloo @ Jun 30th 2006 4:36PM
You post these numbers once a week. Every week the numbers are about the same. And yet every time some tools make the same comments about how bad the xbox is doing in Japan. To you tools who do that, you look just as dumb as the guys who say how overpriced the PS3 is on every PS3 post and how bad the Wii graphics are on every Wii post. Get over it.
RazorElite @ Jun 30th 2006 4:39PM
Lol. Just when you thought the Xbox sales couldn't get any lower. And another weeking of DS on PSP ownage in Japan.
idioteraser @ Jun 30th 2006 4:44PM
Reason phats are still selling is because a: people don't really care about the lite the DS is just fine for them. b: the lite isn't in a color the DS is. c; they cannot find lites so buy phats so they can play DS games.
After all the psp is probably bought for the same reason the phat is because people cannot find a DS lite. Heck Japan is importing both lites and phats.
Square-Enix stated they had doubts if there were enough DSs around when Final Fantasy Three launches on the handheld.
DS games are selling far far more then PSP games the old people that are buying Brain Training for the DS are also buying other DS games.
Z @ Jun 30th 2006 4:49PM
What if Bill Gates used $1 billion to buy 2 million 360s in Japan... just so the geeky Japanese kids who look at these polls would want one, then the media would say how it was selling out, creating a huge buzz for a product that right now has left everyone with a "meh...".
josh @ Jun 30th 2006 4:50PM
you guys should add a category called japanese hardware sales so it would be easier to see all of these over time.
glitched @ Jun 30th 2006 4:52PM
to those saying the DS is Owning the psp in sales... Of course its not just owning the PSP, its owning EVERYTHING.
they have sold almost 3 MILLION DS's in just under 6 months in japan ALONE! its really unheard of... even in PS2's hey-day sony wasnt able to sell 500k-700k a month for 4 months in a row NOT at xmas time.
but yes. the PSP is still doing well. not as amazing as DS but not bad either. its still +100k a month in a slow time of the year. and in the US, PSP is still leading DS so far this year.
obo @ Jun 30th 2006 4:58PM
I want a picture of the 10 people who bought Xboxes, and the 25 who bought GBAs. I want to know who they are and why they did that. Are they working on some sort of project? Did the Xbox kids figure out how to softmod? Are the GBA kids taking theirs apart and making robots out of them?
LaughingTarget @ Jun 30th 2006 5:24PM
I figure that those 10 Xbox units went to people picking them up as collectors items. Microsoft did stop making the things on June 1 afterall. Few people bought them in Japan, and now they'll be hard to find. Maybe put them in a museum.
Or I am just smoking something wicked.
vaylen @ Jun 30th 2006 5:35PM
Two things are intersting to me:
One is that while Nintendo owns a 87% to 13% lead over Sony in the handheld market, Sony holds a 92% to 4% to 4% lead over Nintendo and Microsoft in the console market.
The second is that after a one week gain last week for the Xbox360, it has fallen back down big time, dropping 17% in one week. I guess all the GI's who are stationed over there got theirs last week and the market is now saturated.
courtney @ Jun 30th 2006 5:43PM
why is it so easy to always post Japanese sales data and not US. Why?
Doug the Aquacell Guy @ Jun 30th 2006 5:54PM
1559% increase? Srisly? Or should a decimal go there?
obo @ Jun 30th 2006 6:02PM
LaughingTarget: Oh wow... some kid in Japan has every failed American console, I bet. "Hey check out my Jaguar, Lynx, Xbox and Gizmondo! I'm hardcore!"
Raynre @ Jun 30th 2006 6:04PM
courtney:
Because US is only released monthly and sometimes it can be very hard to actually get the numbers.
The DS is a God over in Japan. It amuses me that people dismiss Nintendo as a major player, and yet it owns over 77% of the market over there.
Jay @ Jun 30th 2006 6:05PM
No surprise again here. Just picked up my DS Lite and am utterly amazed with it. I thought I got over it a few hours ago but then I noticed the space between the bottom of the lower screen and the end of the case. It's half the size of the big DS. fantastic system.
Nintendo are hitting all the right notes at the moment. looks like they learned big lessons from their dark N64 days. Something Sony are just heading into.
GSI @ Jun 30th 2006 6:23PM
Gizmondo was European...not American.
lol @ Jun 30th 2006 6:40PM
How many ps2's do they need over there? It seems like everybody would have at least 5 by now..
idioteraser @ Jun 30th 2006 7:10PM
Well the PS2 breaks like mad after all and supposedly refurbished units are counted.
DS games are coming a flurry and Nintendo is producing quite a number of them. Great looking unique ones too like Project Hacker. Nintendo is putting their money where their mouth is when they said "we do not want a drought of games like the N64 and gamecube suffered" so they are having third parties develop games for them with Nintendo as publisher/producer.
Razor @ Jun 30th 2006 7:45PM
Wow, thank you so much for pointing out the sales figures for the most bizarre group of gamers in the world.. Don't mean shit to me! I know the 360 owns the USA and will continue its ass kicking climb over the PS2/3. I could care less about what the japanese are buying, but it does provide good fodder to the fanboys since Sony has been doing nothing but embarassing themselves as of late and they need all the fodder they can get.. HA! Back to playing my next-gen system now! (Prey WOOT!)
[-Z-] @ Jun 30th 2006 8:02PM
Nintendo is smart by launching a revision of DS. It's amazing how they handle Wii and DS Lite within the same year.I guess it is smart for Nintendo not to focus on next-generation heavy duty processing and graphics on Wii. Light and innovative not only keep Nintendo alive but excel in Handheld packet. Sony on the other hand, got their hand full with PS3 and BluRay. I think PSP 1.5 is really seriously overdue if they ever wanted to keep up with DS Lite. As for XBOX 360, Another failed attempt by Microsoft, Peter Moore has to do better.
[-Z-] @ Jun 30th 2006 8:06PM
Razor, the only time XBOX 360 beat PS2 on sales number in US was april. We saw XBOX 360 sales declined in May. 360 was again beaten by PS2. Where's all the climbing ass kicking you talking about?
vaylen @ Jun 30th 2006 8:44PM
@Razor
"I know the 360 owns the USA and will continue its ass kicking climb over the PS2/3."
Actually, sorry to burst your bubble, but the PS2 is continuing to outsell the 360 in the USA even after the supposed "shortage" of 360's was resolved. But look at the bright side, the 360 is outselling the PS3 right now. I'm sure that makes you feel more intelligent about your purchase.
Zak @ Jun 30th 2006 10:35PM
Wait...okay. Don't try to say that the PS2 is outselling the 360. Look at the price points. This is like comparing a Ferrari to a Honda.
JJ @ Jun 30th 2006 10:46PM
well yeah it is... but the fact that the PS2 is still outselling the xbox AND 360 combined doesnt help matters either. They're all int he same respective markets.
But it says something when old tech like PS2 is beating newer tech like 360. I mean looks at how much the original xbox sales tanked once 360 came out. How do you explain that?
Diskoboy @ Jun 30th 2006 11:12PM
Japan is a very small country. People are always on the move there, and if you ever saw a home or apartment in Japan - You'd wanna be somewhere else, too. I guess consoles are now 'has-been's' in Japan.
But alas, another week of Japanese nationalism strikes again. Face it folks - the Japanese look at anything developed outside their country as crap. Microsoft can swipe up every popular Japanese title known to man - it still wouldn't do any good. European, Aussie, American... It doesn't matter. The Japanese think we're all worthless pieces of shit.
Why anyone reads this shit from Japan is beyond me.
idioteraser @ Jun 30th 2006 11:25PM
Ahem many Japanese well tell you the problem is that Microsoft doesn't use two of the major Japanese advertising agencies. Also not having any games to attract them really hurt.
Paul Gale @ Jul 1st 2006 1:28AM
Excellent Nintendo DS Lite sales yet again. I'm impressed that the DS in total (both versions included) have sold almost 3.5 million units in just 6 months; very impressive.
Paul Gale
1up.com
Brokxs @ Jul 1st 2006 2:11AM
I live in japan now and found a used xbox at their hard off store( used goods chai) it was selling for 3000 yen about 30 bucks. I had an xbox in canada and played both halo1 and 2 to death . I cant find a single store selling xbox games , ms is a joke in japan. I bet when the new nintendo and ps3 come out. we will see negative numbers for xbox and 360 . people will trade them in.
Willo @ Jul 1st 2006 2:25AM
Phew! Got an academic reference for that Diskoboy? Cause right now it sounds like a whole lot of I reckon based on a whole lot of I know nothing.
Mark @ Jul 1st 2006 4:31AM
"But alas, another week of Japanese nationalism strikes again. Face it folks - the Japanese look at anything developed outside their country as crap."
you hit it right on the nail with that statement. And all japanese know about the xbox. Just like here..there isnt any 'PS3' commercials out but we all know that its coming and exactly when it is coming (well according to what $ony says). When is the last time you seen any Japanese screaming to get a product not made in japan?
Vinnk @ Jul 1st 2006 4:59AM
Mark:
"When is the last time you seen any Japanese screaming to get a product not made in japan?"
Yesterday. I saw a girl almost in tears because the last iPod was sold out at Best Denki. I also see them wearing Levi's Jeans. Drinking Starbucks Coffee, eating at McDonalds, Drinking Coka Cola, Listening to American Pop Music, etc. My local theater dosen't have a single non-hollywood movie right now.
If you make a quality product and market it right. The Japanese will buy it. That's all there is too it. Games are for the most part, enjoyed by the younger generation. And the younger Generation LOVES foreign stuff, and will pay top dollar for it. When the RPGs start hitting the system it might turn around, but right now there are only a few titles that appeal to Japanese tastes. Also they are very few total games for the system right now.
Paying much less for a system with thousands of games they want (ps2) over a system that has a few games they want at a premium brice is not nationalism, it's common sense.
GSI @ Jul 1st 2006 5:19AM
About diskoboy's comment:
*SIGH*
I thought we had all gotten away from the stupid Japanese racist crap. Why is it that when the Japanese don't buy an American product, it is b/c nationalism yet they love Apple products and American pop culture.
I swear...people need to stop thinking so hard. The REASON why the Xbox isn't selling in Japan is b/c most of the games for it are more western-centric. Just b/c it will have a smal handful of Japanese titles doesn't mean they will all go out and buy it for 2 or 3 games.
nanikore @ Jul 1st 2006 6:06AM
I'm interested to see the political/neo-racial statements here on what I believe is a gaming forum. I'm sure you're all experts on Japan, so I wont bother addressing them.
On the original post of units sales, I would love to see these kind of numbers for Europe and the US just for comparison. As for high sales in Japan, June is often the month workers get a bonus, and the big denkiya do sales, so that could explain that.
Mark @ Jul 1st 2006 11:21AM
Im not being a racist nanikore. I have japanese friends that agree with that statment. Thier undying loyalty to local brands is well documented.
bladestar @ Jul 1st 2006 11:30AM
You people make me sick. You should be comparing the XBox 360 sales against the PS3 sales. Why? because uhh the PS2 it's not next gen. Though when you think about it it; this is not possible since (uhh)... the PS3 is not out yet, nor is the wii. Also, you people are forgetting one little detail, this is Japan charts; which traditional it is the worst place for any console other than a Japanese console. Also, when you hear all the buz on the internet about how people are reacting to the PS3. Sony will be lucky if they do any good in japan; we all know they will suck everywhere else. Also, people want to see what the other consoles (wii, PS3) before buying into any next gen console. so why dont you ass (holes) wait till november and stop with the, "oohh look the PS2 is beating the xbox 360 in japan." every freaken week the same crap... don't you think this is getting old? I own a PS2 like most of the people that are buying the 360 (I never owned the first XBox) and all I can say is that it kicks the PS2 ass on any way (online play, graphics, sound, hd, game play, etc), so why is the PS2 doing better, name brand, and most of you are just a bunch of stupid fanboys that simply take anything that Sony gives you, and are not even willing to try something different. I might buy a PS3 and a wii, but unlike most of you I will not do it 1) because I am a blind fanboy, 2) Cause I own a PS2, 3) I was told by people to buy it. So far the XBox 360 is showing it got some juice (you are too stupid to see that, so all you do is critisize), anyone owning the 360 can tell you that. So, Sony and Nintendo better do similar or better than Microsoft before they can get my money; some of us will give them a run for our money, though I think they will be fine; there are lots of brain-dead lemmings out there; enough to sell millions.
JJ @ Jul 1st 2006 1:40PM
Mark I have japanese friends, studied japanese for a p eriod early on in college and have been to japan.
Its not liek their all xenophobic. Quite the opposite. American culture is H U G E over there. They buy american products like no ones business. Just because 360 and Xbox aren't selling, doesn't mean they hate american products. It just means there's nothing on the system that appeals to the masses over there.
Whats so hard to figure out about that? Its not like the 360 has been exactly selling like the next best thing since sliced bread over here either.
JJ @ Jul 1st 2006 1:42PM
Besides, just because someone is japanese, doesn't make them pros ont heir culture either.
I mean i know tons of Irish people, Arabic people, and they odnt know everything there is to know about their cultures.
Heck i dont know everything there is to know about my OWN culture. nor do i know everything about japanese I just know certain things and keep up on them is all.
GSI @ Jul 1st 2006 3:03PM
"American culture is H U G E over there. They buy american products like no ones business."
Bingo...I was there for 9 days (in 4-5 cities) in the summer of 2004 and it was blantantly obvious how much they loved American pop culture.