PS3 shipments hit 2 million worldwide

I work at a very busy walmart and we've had a 20 and 60 GB version of the ps3 sitting in stock all weekend. I think the demand for a $600 console is just not there. Yes, we are Wii-less.

As much as I want Nintendo back on top, and as much as I enjoy seeing PS3s stacked up in stores, never count Sony out. The Playstation is a ridiculously popular brand. And now that I know the PS1 and PS2 at this point in their respective lifespans weren't at 2 million, that raises even more doubt that Sony is headed downward.

The only question is, though, were the PS1 and PS2 still in stock at this point, like the PS3, or were they completely sold out? My guess is they were completely sold out.

Wow! 2 million! Wow! Too bad no one wants them!

Please, please...can you people stop calling Gran Turismo HD a demo. It is a scrap game they gave for free.

Anyway, the ps3's are laying all over the best buys in chicago. I would be amazed if their numbers of shipments and sales are as high as they want us to believe in the end. Its nice they shipped so many - but people aren't rushing to buy them. Hell, I feel like I got suckered into buying a blue ray player, as there are no games worth beans.

What good is shipping them if they are sitting on shelves?

I have a feeling there is an army of Sony delivery trucks out there just circling the block outside of the factory... But at least they were shipped, right?

Well thay haven't SOLD 2 million PS3s.
There's a stack of PS3s in my local EB, Futureshop & Walmart.

2 million giant enemy crabs.

KAZ HIRAI @ E3 - "The essence of the Playstation DNA is real change and the consumers are ready."

2 million people attacking weak-points for massive damage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Wzmf0ChL24

^^^ Watch this ^^^

8 seconds until Sony fanboys misread this as sales figures and flood message boards.

5 seconds until a Sony fanboy tries to explain to me that shipments mean sales... to stores, right? Right? ...Hello?

2 seconds until they feel better about themselves.

Fact is, when they sit in stores, for weeks, that means they aren't going to be re-ordered and reaching another number (6 million by March) will be even more of a wet dream.

I wonder how many PS fanboys think Shipping PS3's and Selling PS3's are the same thing. Anyone can make and ship a product but it's the SELLING of the product that you want to achieve. Sony's too nice, I think they should charge $800 for the PS3, $600 is just too much of a bargin.

Ok...

First off, every unit NOT sold helps Sony... (by a rumoured 350$ per unit). (Nobody really cars about huge figures in the first 6 months anyway)

Second: Sony has a weird method of counting in comparison. Sony counts units shipped out of the factory while MS counts units shipped out of their local warehouses (basicly in store). (You can clearly see that there is a lot of diffrence between the two, my guess hundreds of thousands.)

the ps2 sold well since it was a perfect time to adopt well affordable console/dvd players.

the ps3 is not selling well because it's a bad time to force people into a expensive console/blu-ray player.

If blu ray was already the next format, it would of sold better.

If it was alot cheaper, it would of sold better.

If MS never cameout with the 360 last year, it would have sold better.

No one is buying it right now because its a gamble on the next format, its really expensive, and there is an equally compareable system with more game avail w/ great support to be had for less, plus vista directx 10 crysis is just beyond them hills.

Not good that they can't even get rid of the paltry number they've shipped. I thought Sony would have troubles, but I never expected the console would be wasting space on store shelves three weeks or so after Christmas.

Not bad...

The PS3 is in a good position if you compare it to the Xbox 360 launch. The Xbox 360 didn't have 2 million units available until almost double that.

Sony has sold 2million consoles to retail and retail must have sold the vast majority of those consoles. Retail outlets willnot order more stock if they cant sell the initial stock they have recieved, especially if the PS3 were selling as bad as some here say it is. The PS3 is doing better than most on these boards would like to admit, and at that price point that is quite impressive.

The good thing is, I DO want one, because I like games.
The bad thing is, I cannot afford one. I was barely able to afford my Wii. Really now it's a choice between saving up for a PS3 or saving up for a 360. Either way I'm lucky, because if I go for the PS3 route, by next winter when I can afford one, there will be some more games out. And if I go the 360 route, by the time I can afford one (in the fall) the new processor will be in use. Either way, it's win-win for me, and until I can afford either of those systems, I can have a ton of fun with my Wii.

(cue the random fanboys that say I only got a wii because I'm too poor for the other systems..oh well. I saved up for a few months just for the $300 for my Wii and Zelda, and I'm fine with being poor. Rent, car payment, insurance payment, and school all come first, right?)

They could ship 10 million and that wouldn't change anything, they still can't sell any of them.

lol @ #8.

It's going to be interesting if Sales continue to be sluggish. It's going to be like Sony begging for some retailers to buy more units when they already have plenty still sitting on the shelf.

I seriously doubt they can hit their 6 mil by March target, but I'm sure they'll either lower that or try to put some kind of spin on it (as usual)

"First off, every unit NOT sold helps Sony... (by a rumoured 350$ per unit). (Nobody really cars about huge figures in the first 6 months anyway)"

No.

every unit not sold HURTS sony by $950 (using your 350$ loss estimate).

Taking a loss on SOLD hardware is much better than not SELLING hardware at all.

At least that means that the production problems are over - now at last things get inetersting. The Wii is could beat both of them combined but none of the heavy weight games are on it (RE5, Assassin, etc so many gamers will have to choose one of 360 or PS3 as well..No matter what 360 fans say...the PS2 game collection and Blu-ray offset the 100 dollar price difference...and so its down to the games..And the matchup makes me drool..Motorstorm vs PGR3, Killzone vs GoW, MGS4 vs Halo3, FF13 vs Blue Dragon, White knight Story vs mass Effect, Tekken 6 vs DoA4, GT5 vs Forza 2, Lair vs Too Human, Resistance vs Lost Planet, Getaway vs Crackdown. My money is on PS3 still...because of the huge GT fan base 30mn units sold or something? + rumours of ferrari, And no equivalent for Heavenly sword and DMC4 on 360. But Killzone 2 could be the decider, even if its not as good as THAT traile - could be a damp squib but Killzone 1 was quite good, and the 360's killer apps are all shooters..so if that vanishess...

What it all boils down to is that THEY ARE NOT SELLING. Who cares how many they've "shipped?" Who cares if IGN picks it as the best new console? (I think it just makes them look really stupid).

You couldn't find a 360 at this point last year.

I'm no fanboy, I want the desire to get a PS3; I do! Sony's just done a poor job in doing so.

"The PS3 is in a good position if you compare it to the Xbox 360 launch. The Xbox 360 didn't have 2 million units available until almost double that."

People need to stop with that comparison. There is a very big difference that must be noted, in that the Xbox 360 wasn't gathering dust on store shelves at this point in it's launch.

No equivilent of Heavenly sword or DMC4? What about Ninja Gaiden 2, which is what both of those games can only aspire to be (if it's as good as NGB, one of the best games ever)

#16 a dumbass

I wonder if the ps3's will end up in the same landfill the ET games are in?

@itsgreen

That is the dumbest logic I've ever heard. Every unit NOT sold helps Sony? You've got to be kidding. Please tell me you were being sarcastic.

You see, the moment Sony ASSEMBLES a PS3, they have lost about 800 bucks. It doesn't matter if they ship them or not, they paid to have it MADE. When they sell it to retailers, they recoup about 75% of that. If it sits in the stores, guess how many more the retailer will buy? Oh ... you guessed it, zero.

It'll be interesting to see the Japanese Hardware sales for last week, and the PS3 total sold. If it hasn't sold 1 million in Japan, you'll be looking at repeat America: shipped 1 million, but only sold about 80% of their stock.

I don't care how you spin this. The 360 was scarce until March/April. The Wii is likely to be just as scarce, if not worse. And the PS3 ... is available now, for the low, low price of 599 US Dollars. A price cut and GAMES will do Sony wonders, assuming Microsoft doesn't do the former first.

Bootomline: anybody saying anything positive about PS3 is a "dumbass". Just a question - arent there plenty of 360s gathering dust as well - And thats despite one year of games. Might be a good idea to wait till some good games come out for PS3, unless you are a 360 fan and PS-hater who cant badmouthing PS3 come what may. Let us see the sales rate in March - when PS3 has Motorstorm / Heavenly sword / VF5 / Lair and has launched in Europe.

Sony did SELL 2M units, you nubtards.
Sony says "Shipped" MS says "SOLD"

Doesnt matter, since both companies SOLD/SHIPPED these to retailers.
Sony doenst get the number of SOLD at EACH store.
They STORES like BESTBUY, WALMART, bought the consoles from SONY.

So in otherwords Sony DID sell 2M, not the people but to the stores.

This place is much more fun when there is at least 1 Sony troll.

Thanks, "the Intangible Fact", for making this place worth watching again.

LOL Spilt_milk

Classic!

So, if they are taking an approximate $350 loss on each console "shipped", Sony just lost $350,000,000.00 because they still have stock sitting on shelves (I won't count that stock because I don't know the actual numbers). Again, the fact that they shipped them from the factory means nothing until a distributor takes them off their hands and actually sells them. Even then, Sony still loses money unless someone buys approximately 10 games (assuming a profit margin on each game sold is about $35, which it's not). Gee, that "free" Playstation Network sure seems like it would generate revenue stream for them right now, but it's free, right?

Oh, I forgot, they make money off of that component cable you have to buy and are also banking on people dropping a thousand or two on a TV capable of "full HDTV" as well. Seems to me Microsoft and Nintendo understand the importance of alternate revenue streams on peripherals, games, etc. better than Sony at this point.

The interesting statistic here is the 500,000 global registrations for the network service, which is free.

And of that group, 300,000 have downloaded Gran Turismo HD, which is also free.

It may be too early to speculate on the online numbers, but this is an early indicator that I'm sure will be watched as more consoles are sold.

"That is the dumbest logic I've ever heard. Every unit NOT sold helps Sony? " Its you who is not getting the logic. Obviously not selling units ALREADY BUILT hurts - but what he means is - read this slowly - that if sales are slow (not too slow, mind), and if they sell 6mn units by Oct instead of MArch (same as 360) - then they avoid losing too much money. By next year the 800USD cost drops to 500USD - they drop the 20GB to 399 and still lose less money - and with 100mn PS2 consoles and rising, many of them will go for a upgrade and Sony still sells shitloads in 2008. Got that? or playing shooters on the 360 addled your brain too much?

Sony fanboys, stop defending sony. Remember what Sony said? The first 5 millions PS3 will be sold even though there are no games on it! Since Sony is so confident, let's see how it plays out.

"As much as I want Nintendo back on top,"

This is pretty much the worst that could happen for the industry.

Fucking Mario/Wario/Whatever minigame collections after one another, new "proper" Mario/Zelda/Metroid every two years, maybe some Pokemon once in a while and, as an icing on the cake, some ridiculous shit like Cooking Mama (no doubt we'll see half a dozen sequels for that, too).

There are still lots of gamers out there who are interested in *real* games and couldn't care less about the non-games Nintendo is known for.

Congrats Sony.

However, I can't see how they'll sell 6M by March without some SERIOUS channel stuffing. Beyond Xmas 2006 360 levels, beyond January 2007 PS3 levels.

They'd have to have some great games up their sleeves to move that many. People are not going to buy a console if there is only 1 or 2 games to play, as 360 proved last year (look at sales through the first half of the year).

Short version to all you 360 fanboys:
PS3 has sold more units AT RETAIL to this point than 360 did last year in the US and Japan. Sopmething like 1.1M units (combined) to 800,000 (combined). MS also sold some number of units to Europe, which may have evened this up. With an objective view of the numbers, there is no way to say the PS3 launch was a failure relative to the 360 one.

And finally, as Storm9 says, you have to get over arguments about what words are used. Manufacturers count sales to the retail channel as sales, in all cases. This includes Sony, MS and Nintendo. The way manufacturing works in China, units leave the factory straight to retail, so even if a truck just pulled away from the loading dock in Longhua, China but is still visible in the parking lot, those units are counted as sold. This shows in MS figures (900,000 shipped to NA in 2005, with only 680,000 or so sold at retail) as well as Sony's. Both counted units still in China, in flight, in customs in Anchorage, and on UPS trucks as sold/shipped. These units never even made it to shelves in time to be sold before the year ended.

There are separate figures for sales at retail, you have to get those from other sources, Peter Moore isn't going to quote them, nor is Phil Harrison.

@Wii

Sorry, don't own a 360. I have a PSP and a DS, and right now the PSP gets the most game time from me. And what you fail to realize is ... slow sales = less software moving = more developers deciding to cross-platform = less exclusives for Sony.

So, the 360 which has a year head start, better games, and cheaper will be outsold by a similar console, with less games, and a higher price tag? You own a Neo Geo, by chance?

The ONLY thing Sony has going for it is its name brand loyality, which suffered "massive damage" this past holiday season. I'd love them to drop their price. Sony's year is NOT 2007. It'll be 2008 when the price finally drops, and they actually have games.

Is there anything else you'd like to spin? Perhaps how its great that Sony lost exclusivity to VF5 or Assassin's Creed? I'm dying to hear what you've got up your sleeve...

I was over at the PS3 official site yesterday and I liked the variety of types of games coming out in 2007. The console looks better that 360 or Wii. And I think it will have legs. And while I am waiting, I can play ALL PS2 games no-pro.

Yes, its expensive. But I am lucky enough to be wealthy enough to afford one. [Sorry, my gloat filter needs changing] So I think I might just walk into a store and get me one of them 11 pound thangs.

360 is an FPS, gruesome game console by and large. And the Wii is too kiddy. Plus it has not widescreen. I suspect that Ninty will make a significant hardware upgrade to HD capability sooner that WiiII (Wii2), now that the swingy-thingy is a hit.

I am by no means a Sony fan-boy. In fact I strive to own as few Sony things as possible, without totally hating. So this is a new thought for me and I am a little uncomfortable with it, like with a new pair of jeans. But I'll sit on it and see.

People are buying Playstation3 every day. Stop being anti-sony just because you can. Just because they haven't sold 6 million playsations immediately, and haven;t broken any sales records, doesn't mean the system won't do well. Sony is moving units, don't you worry. I doubt well see any price-drops in the near future, but I still see people walking out of the Sony store with systems under their arms on the regular.

Yeah Wii,

Except that those consoles already on the shelves already cost sony 950 dollars to make. If PS3's don't move until a price drop, it means Sony will have lost even more money on those consoles. It doesn't matter if they're cheaper to make in the future if they are making them, and not selling them, now.

Also, It hurts sony not just financially but it also hurts their overall position. If PS3 can't get a decent install base quickly, the software will go to other more profitable hardware. Exclusives will be lost, decreasing the value of the PS3, causing even less to sell, causing even more exclusives to be lost. Its a downward spiral, with sony being the loser.

Got that? Or has jerking off the the sexbox named sony addled your brain too much?

I don't think I've ever heard anything so stupid before. Sony would rather you not buy their hardware now? What are you smoking?

Remember the Playstation 2? It sold 33 million at $299. After a little more than a year and a half of this (10-26-00 to 5-14-02) Sony dropped the price to $199.

That means that of their 100 million PS2s sold, 70 million of those were sold when it was two hundred dollars. It shouldn't shock anyone when I say that the price people are willing to pay creates a bell curve. There is an ideal price point where you will make the most money - but instead of going right there, you can milk the leftward edge of the bell curve, the people who will pay some ridiculous amount no matter what.

This is the reason that hardcover books are released before paperbacks.

In my opinion, Sony is playing it smart. They're selling the system high at the start to fuel the production advances that will make them able to produce them at a cost that the average consumer can reasonably handle (though I'll reiterate the thought that $600 is not that much money if you look at everything you're getting).

The price will come down, and the Playstation 3 with triumph. End of story.

During the holiday season of 2006, Microsoft already had enough systems to satisfy heavy demand. Had Sony managed to ship the number of consoles that they'd promised, I pretty sure they would have been able to sell them all during the same time period. Coincidentally, when I walk into a Best Buy, I cant help but notice the huge pile of Xbox 360's stacked 6 feet high, looking dejected. It's not that people aren't buying either console. They just are lining up anymore. People line-up because of hype. The hype is over, people will buy PS3s, people will buy Xbox 360s. Just not all at once, people. Sony will sell a whole bunch of PS3's. 6 Million by March seems a bit ambitious, but even 4 million, which seems realistic, is just fine.

@16

Your list is somewhat interesting. I personally feel the PS3 game lineup that you show is a little weaker. You also compare games that don't have much in common. You put in PS3 games that only have potential, like Killzone, Lair, and White Knight Story while leaving 360 equivalent's out. Sure, potential is subjective. But, in the interest of fairness, here are the 360 games that you forgot.

Dead Rising
Oblivion (currently)
Bioshock
Rainbow 6 Vegas (currently)
GRAW
Burnout Revenge
GRAW 2
Alan Wake
Army of Two
Bullet Witch
COD2
Command and Conquer (the new one)
Condemned
Crysis
Fable 2
FEAR (weak, I know, but it is fun if you never played PC version)
Half Life/Portal combo pack thingy (see FEAR disclaimer)
Halo Wars
Huxely (my sleeper pick)
Mistwalker
Viva Pinata
Kameo
Lost Odyssey

NINJA GAIDEN 2 (you should've compared this to MGS4. Ninja Gaiden on xbox is so friken awesome. Better than the last MGS imo)

PGR4 is announced. exclusive so far.
Saint's Row
Shadowrun (if they don't screw it up)
John Woo's Stranglehold
Tekken 6 WILL be on 360, imo. rumor right now
Splinter Cell DA (the next new one may be exclusive also)
Marvel Ultimate Alliance (i think, not sure though)

I appologize if I made a couple of mistakes or if you disagree with some of my disclaimer's. But, you have to be nearly blind to think that the PS3 has a stronger game line-up coming.

The 360 has several times the install base, is cheaper to develop for, and has equivalent graphics as demonstrated by games so far. Why wouldn't it have more quality games coming?

@Steve2

People regard the PS3 launch as a failure not because of the numbers of units they shipped (read: not sold) but because of the fumbled "world-wide" launch, the lack of post-xmas consumer interest, and the lack of units in general.

"People are buying Playstation3 every day. Stop being anti-sony just because you can. Just because they haven't sold 6 million playsations immediately, and haven;t broken any sales records, doesn't mean the system won't do well. Sony is moving units, don't you worry. I doubt well see any price-drops in the near future, but I still see people walking out of the Sony store with systems under their arms on the regular."

First of all, people are not hating on Sony just because they can... they are talking about this stuff because it's relevant to what has transpired during the last year and a half (IE Sony slapping consumers in the face).

I'm really getting tired of all these people saying "just because _______ doesn't mean the system won't do well." What does it take? Why does a slow start not bode well for a system? When the 360 was slow out of the gate, I held the same gloom and doom feelings for it, but it seems to have pulled itself out of the rut.

Will PS3 be able to do the same? It depends . Will developers still feel comfortable developing exclusive titles for a system with a low install base? Will developers want to spend more money on a game for only one system, which won't sell as many copies as a multi-platform game? We'll see, the future will tell.

And of course you see people walking out of the SONY store with PS3's... it's the big retailers like Target and Wal*Mart that really make the difference though. When you go into a store like those and just see a pile of the "must-have" system, only a few weeks after the xmas frenzy, something is definitely wrong. I think the consumer interest is waning, and I think developer interest will follow suit. That's not me being anti-this or anti-that. It's a pretty simple observation of what is happening. Take that how you will.

@34 "[Nintendo back on top] is pretty much the worst that could happen for the industry. . ."

Are you kidding me? Nintendo is the ONLY company out of the big three who innovate, my friend. They innovate, and then everyone else copies them. Why wouldn't you want a company like this to be rewarded with their rightful place at #1? If Nintendo is forced out of this market, then there goes anymore advances and innovations made in this industry.

I mean, do you realize that Sony has been using the Playstation 1 controller, which is itself a copy of the SNES controller, for all of their subsequent systems? In fact, the ONLY changes made to the controller were straight copied from Nintendo (joystick, rumble, motion-sensing). You want companies like these being rewarded?

Not sure how you can complain about their software either, when it's pretty much universally accepted as top-tier. Factor in that this company makes 2 completely different units of hardware, and supplies them with 1st party games relatively constantly....Nintendo is a fanstastic videogame company, it's your loss that you cannot appreciate them (and you actually do, whether you know it or not, since the companies whose game systems you purchase steal almost every idea they get from Nintendo anyway).

I was at Best Buy last night and saw someone return a 20GB PS3.

Notice how Sony ALWAYS boasts units SHIPPED, while Nintendo tell us how many have SOLD?

NINTENDO INNOVATES??????!! WTF

THE ONLY INNOVATE HARDWARE!

They sure in the hell dont innovate games. Its always the same mario and zelda bullshit. Thats all they ever release yet stupid ass people still defend the manipulative company.

Saying "Oh they are so innovative" "I want them on top"

Anybody that says that is a mother******** fool.

My favorite inside joke: going to any store that sells videogames and seeing a stack of PS3s.

Are you even serious? Aside from the fact that Mario and Zelda games are unbelievably good, and I want them to continue "making that shit" as you put it....they have redefined each of those games multiple times in the series. Mario 64 is one of the most revolutionary games in the history of videogames. You want more innovation than that? Zelda 64 blew everyone away as the first 3D Zelda game. They completely changed things up for Majora's Mask AND Wind Waker. Some people, not unlike yourself, complained. Yet they were innovative and creative enough of a company to make those changes anyway. And here you are criticizing them again. What more do you want them to do with those franchises than they have already done? Meantime, your favorite companies continue making the same bullshit GTA 1,2,3,4,5,6, etc. etc. etc.

Nintendo innovated the hell out of the fighting genre when it released Smash Bros.

They CREATED A FUCKING genre when they released Metroid Prime (first person action adventure).

What more do you want from this company, man?

Nintendo pumps out software on TWO fronts constantly - home and handheld.

In fact, it can be argued that their software is way more innovative than their hardware. The gameplay in amost all of their games are absolutely top-notch and few other companies can even compete with them.

And all they innovate is hardware? Well what do you guess, my friend, benefits from innovative hardware? Yeah, you guessed it, the GAMES. Mario 64 wouldn't have been quite as fun with a D-pad, would it have? Wii Sports wouldn't be the fantastic game that everyone is enjoying without the innovative hardware, would it?

Nintendo is going back where they deserve to be: On the tip fucking top of the videogame world. And dummies like you are going to have to deal with it.

You guys are silly!!!