PSP hardware shipments plummet, software up slightly
When Sony released their fiscal Q3 (Oct. - Dec. '06) financial results recently, most of the focus was on the PS3 and how the costs of its launch contributed to a massive loss for Sony's games unit. But, as the UK's Pocket Gamer points out, a massive slowdown in PSP shipments worldwide is probably just as worrying for the company.
In the three month holiday period, Sony shipped just 1.46 million PSP units worldwide, a nearly 72 percent decrease from the 6.22 million units shipped during the same period a year ago. Broken down territorially, Europe and Japan each got roughly 900,000 systems while North America saw only an anemic 10,000 PSP units shipped in the three month period (no, that isn't a typo). For comparison, Reuters reported in November that Nintendo planned to ship 1.5 million DS units to Japan in December alone.
But not all is doom and gloom in the Sony numbers. NPD data from December showed relatively healthy sales of nearly a million PSPs in North America, suggesting that Sony slowed North American shipments to let retailers sell off some of the 2 million systems shipped during the summer months. And despite the slowing hardware shipments, PSP software shipments actually rose 20 percent to 21.2 million units worldwide for the holiday season. Still, it's easy to look at this massive shipment slowdown and see the tide decisively turning towards Nintendo in the portable market share battle.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Lou @ Feb 1st 2007 2:04PM
Sales are just a gimmick.
Ryan @ Feb 1st 2007 2:09PM
1. Sales are just a gimmick.
Posted at 2:04PM on Feb 1st 2007 by Lou
Spoken like a true Nintendo-fearing Sony-bot. Sales are everything; if it wasn't for the sales of the DS, Dragon Quest IX would not be on the handheld now would it?
Question is what does Sony have to do to catch up to Nintendo? Or is that even possible at this point?
Maybe a better question is: How long til Sony pulls the plug on the PSP?
whosmav @ Feb 1st 2007 2:13PM
The homebrew apps own any official psp release. I'll get a psp one day, when its crazy cheap. No doubt, I want to emulate all my fave shit. PSP is the only thing out that can do it well.
But for anything else it sucks!!!
whosmav @ Feb 1st 2007 2:14PM
Only 10k shipping to N.A.=Plug pulled
Crono @ Feb 1st 2007 2:17PM
Pretty sure Lou was just joking, folks.
Louis @ Feb 1st 2007 2:18PM
Hey Ryan meet SARCASM. Sony originally said that if the DS sells it is because it is a gimmick (they later said the same thing about the Wii). See what I did, I used their words against them in a humorous way.
Quit shooting from the hip N-fanboy. You're making DS owners (me) look like we can't take a joke.
fox619_master @ Feb 1st 2007 2:22PM
I own both handhelds and i own more ds games, even though i homebrew my psp games, 8 ds games 3 psp games, im getting vice city story soon for ma mem stick though
hohoho @ Feb 1st 2007 2:23PM
one minute, when ms shipped blahblah and sony shipped blahblah during the last quarter of 06 released by npd, meant rubbish.
now, the sony ship blah, it becomes gospel.
Brilliant mob mentality! :D
JodyAnthony @ Feb 1st 2007 2:23PM
I should pick one of these up some day. Probably when I can find one for under a hundred bux.
Myke @ Feb 1st 2007 2:27PM
Haha, no kidding, jeez, I guess some people find it hard to sense sarcasm over the net.
Anyway, I think it's expected for them to slow shipments down when they aren't selling at a crazy rate like the DS is. That said, 10,000 units is REALLY slowing it down, a bit more than would be expected in a normal case. Honestly, I'm pretty sure that the DS is un-catchable at this point, it's got an insane lead and it's not like Sony is even closing the gap...at all. It would be one thing if the PSP had some legs and was giving the DS a run for it's money but it's just not, and thats the truth. I have nothing against the PSP, I owned one for a bit, but nothing showed much promise (besides the homebrew community, and that's hard to look into the future with in many cases) so I sold it, I still own my original DS Phat and I play it from time to time but not a whole lot, but there are games for the DS that I'm just not going to give up, MK DS, Metroid Prime:Hunters, Trauma Center, and there are plenty on thier way. Thats the one key thing, those are unique games that offered something that the past didnt. It's just not the case with the PSP, yes, the PSP is FAR more powerful, yes, the PSP is MUCH MORE CAPABLE as a multimedia device, and yes, the PSP is far more appealing to the eye, but it just doenst offer something that my PS2, DS, and MP3 player don't already do better.
john @ Feb 1st 2007 2:29PM
Yeah, Lou is a Nintendo fanboy like me, which is why I laughed.
Kelvin @ Feb 1st 2007 2:30PM
"3. The homebrew apps own any official psp release. I'll get a psp one day, when its crazy cheap. No doubt, I want to emulate all my fave shit. PSP is the only thing out that can do it well."
Well yah, I'm pretty sure if all you're doing on the thing is emulation, then Sony would be more than eager to pull the plug before it hits the price point that you'd want to buy at.
Jake @ Feb 1st 2007 2:31PM
Ryan,
When you fail to identify the most obvious of sarcasm, it makes you look like a tard. In the process of trying to pwn Lou, you were really just whipping up an elaborate case of self pwnage.
C'mon. Lou says sales don't mean anything and you whip up an argument on how they do.
Nintendo products totally suck because they don't work underwater. Come and get me.
Unit @ Feb 1st 2007 2:36PM
atleast the games are selling abit.... It's funny how sony's the only company that consistently bashes it's competitors with stupid sayings and what not, but yet they can't prove that what their doing is so much better.
Tom @ Feb 1st 2007 2:40PM
I think this proves how bogus sony always claiming shipped numbers is. The fact of that matter is considering how few psps were shipped (10000 in 3 months compared to almost 1 million in just december) That means there must have been about 1.5million psps shipped in America alone that were simply sitting there for months. Of course in September sony could claim they have shipped a huge amount of psps, it just then takes forever to sell them.
Seriously so many people will often claim that shipped numbers are fine because they can't be that far from sold. This proves otherwise. I would guess that Sony probably had a few million more psps shipped than sold just a few months ago.
The worrying thing for Sony should really be whether sales are going to plummet after the christmas shopping period. I would imagine most retailers would be hesitant about buying Psps after it took months to get rid of the last lot.
BPM @ Feb 1st 2007 2:40PM
"Nintendo products totally suck because they don't work underwater. Come and get me."
[laughs] Nope, can't beat that.
Wow, only 10k PSP for America? What are the odds Sony will stop PSP support by the end of this year?
PSP had a good run, and has been Nintendo's biggest handheld challenger yet, but I just don't forsee it catching up to the runaway success that is DS.
Derbeste @ Feb 1st 2007 2:43PM
Water is a gimmick.
silkylove @ Feb 1st 2007 2:47PM
On the plus side, if you turn your moniter upside down then it looks like sales are soaring:)
White Rose Duelist @ Feb 1st 2007 2:53PM
"Nintendo products totally suck because they don't work underwater."
I haven't tried any of mine while actually underwater yet, but considering that they shrug off rain and being flushed in the toilet without problems, I woul dnot be surprised if you could get one to work underwater.
I believe the phrase you're looking for is "Nintendo products totally suck because they don't work if you pour half a bottle of orange juice on them."
Jim @ Feb 1st 2007 3:03PM
10k PSPs sold in 3 months in North America?
Wow, that makes the X360 look like a huge success in Japan *LOL*
--
For real: That's quite disturbing.
Erwos @ Feb 1st 2007 3:09PM
What's funny is that the PSP is actually pretty good now if you put 3.03 OE-C on it:
1. Awesome media playback at full resolution, no bitrate limit.
2. PS1 compatibility.
3. Reasonable native library with a bunch of Final Fantasy games coming out in the next year or so.
4. Excellent emulator support.
It still has the price and battery issues going against it, of course, but a lot of the traditional suckage is gone at this point.
Pac Man @ Feb 1st 2007 3:14PM
I don't think the problem with the PSP is its games anymore. Loads of people are buying DS's as presents whereas Sony's machine just isn't at the right price point. They also seem to be marketing it really
badly and it's not a new toy anymore like the lite. They should remodel it I reckon.
Marty @ Feb 1st 2007 3:28PM
"Still, it's easy to look at this massive shipment slowdown and see the tide decisively turning towards Nintendo in the portable market share battle."
When was it not turning towards Nintendo?
Ryan @ Feb 1st 2007 3:29PM
Sarcasm is a gimmick.
;-)
Castle @ Feb 1st 2007 3:32PM
PSP sales were up 24% not 20%, which isn't just "slightly". Why does every Joystiq post have to be a troll?
Daniel M. @ Feb 1st 2007 3:32PM
why do you toolbags care so much which system is selling more? If you prefer the games on one system, buy that one and play it. Vice versa.
"What are the odds Sony will stop PSP support by the end of this year? ... I just don't forsee it catching up to the runaway success that is DS."
Yeah, Sony will probably just pack up and quit since they only have the 2nd hottest selling portable. Does it have to "catch up" to the DS's sales to be deemed successful? I can pull it out and play enjoyable games on it, which in my book is a success.
eddy_88_nite @ Feb 1st 2007 3:39PM
this is weird since none of the people in my area like the ds. While a majority of people own or want a psp. And almost everyone here is willing to trade in their xbox 360 for a wii or ps3.
Chalito @ Feb 1st 2007 3:40PM
If you want a console for emulators and homebrew gaming, get a GP2X. does divx without any silly reformatting, ogg, mp3, and tons of emulators, uses sd cards. Definetly a must for any retro-gamer.
Derbeste @ Feb 1st 2007 3:42PM
"I can pull it out and play enjoyable games on it, which in my book is a success."
Your stock isn't plummeting and you're not taking out $700 MILLION loans to play your game.
Louis @ Feb 1st 2007 3:43PM
I actually really liked my PSP. I bought it on launch day, played Tony Hawk THUG2 for a couple of days, but I couldn't really see using it a lot and there weren't any games that blew me away. So I sold it. Almost 2 years later, i would actually consider buying one again just to play MGS and GT Mobile (hahaha).
Cube @ Feb 1st 2007 3:48PM
The total was 1.76 million, not 1.46 million. The 72% figure is correct, though.
Daniel M. @ Feb 1st 2007 3:51PM
"Your stock isn't plummeting and you're not taking out $700 MILLION loans to play your game."
You're missing the point -- why do I give a shit about Sony's stock?
BPM @ Feb 1st 2007 4:00PM
@Daniel M. (#26):
The problem isn't whether or not the platform is enjoyable or not (and believe me, there are several titles I'd like to get on PSP, I'm just waiting to get a PSP cheap), but developer support. Developers are putting out fewer and fewer exclusive titles on PSP (one exlcusive is Sega's upcoming Crush), and are mostly console ports.
Even Square-Enix, who has been a huge supporter of Sony since PlayStation came about, has fewer exclusives on PSP than DS. Not to say there's anything wrong with ports (especially when it's of top-tier games), but they aren't quite the system sellers that exclusives are.
Sony could try to boost PSP sales with a sleeker remodel (it sure helped DS), but a price drop would be the biggest seller. If they brought all PSP SKUs down by about $50, it'd close the price gap between DS and PSP by a bit ($20 difference between DS(Lite) and PSP core then). With a smaller upfront cost, more people would be willing to enter the PSP market.
Derbeste @ Feb 1st 2007 4:31PM
"You're missing the point -- why do I give a shit about Sony's stock?"
No....You're missing the point. If enough people, like you, don't "give a shit", you won't get any MORE games.
Are you telling me the ones you have now will NEVER get old? O.o
Deuce @ Feb 1st 2007 4:37PM
Yeah, I think the PSP is finally going the way of the Game Gear - a promising and technically more advanced handheld that had a good run for a while, but was decisively shut out of the market by Nintendo in the end. Nintendo's decades-long domination in this market is incredible. I thought if anyone could give them an even run for their money, it would be Sony.
Deuce @ Feb 1st 2007 4:38PM
Yeah, I think the PSP is finally going the way of the Game Gear - a promising and technically more advanced handheld that had a good run for a while, but was decisively shut out of the market by Nintendo in the end. Nintendo's decades-long domination in this market is incredible. I thought if anyone could give them an even run for their money, it would be Sony.
JRM @ Feb 1st 2007 4:52PM
Sony should thank their lucky stars there's no E3 anymore. They couldn't say anything good about PSP SHIPMENTS (as they say next to nothing about consumer sales) to save their lives.
Myke @ Feb 1st 2007 5:01PM
Wow, a double-post buy a guy named "Deuce"....how ironic... =)
Myke @ Feb 1st 2007 5:01PM
Wow, a double-post by a guy named "Deuce"....how ironic... =)
Beaudry @ Feb 1st 2007 5:02PM
"Yeah, Sony will probably just pack up and quit since they only have the 2nd hottest selling portable."
Yeah, ending out what portable for 3rd place? Playing bejeweled on my cell phone?
PSP's price is too high, the battery life is too low, and the multimedia function, which was supposed to be the big difference between this and other handhelds, is killed by their own proprietary disc format.
Aex @ Feb 1st 2007 5:02PM
"Your stock isn't plummeting and you're not taking out $700 MILLION loans to play your game."
Sony's Stock isn't plummeting... In fact, it has risen by about 10 points in the past 2-3 months. Maybe plummeting means something different in the fanboy world.
http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?pg=qu&sid=4526&symb=SNE&time=3mo&uf=0
I do agree tho. The psp is pulling a gamecube. It is stupid to say it's "Dead" or "Dying" right now tho. The gamecube didn't die til the end of the generation, to think the psp would die only 2years in is rediculous. More games would definately help and 2007 looks like it'll be a good year game-wise for the psp. A good amount of "exclusives" and "high-demand" games are coming to this so called "dead" console this year.
Crono @ Feb 1st 2007 5:05PM
I give it another year, and after all the upcoming "must have" games don't sell any more units because the games are too expensive and the system is too expensive, then I'll call it dead for certain.
Until then, I'll just call it dead.
Dolla Dolla @ Feb 1st 2007 5:19PM
Don't get it twisted, the sales of the PSP hardware have been phenomenal for a console/portable. I believe they've shipped over 20 million, and it's been out for about 2 years, compared to the gamecube/xbox which sold/shipped about 24/21 million in the span of 5 years.
The software sales are just ... pathetic.
LaughingTarget @ Feb 1st 2007 5:29PM
Gonna call BS on these shipment claims. Sony's inventory levels ROSE $1.77 billion over the past year. This means most of those "shipped" PSPs are sitting on Sony warehouses (among other things like PS2s, televisions, PS3s, etc). Remember, Sony calls a shipment anything that leaves their factory and ends up in their own warhouses, not a unit shipped to a retailer. They just ran out of room on Sony warehouses in North America and were only able to cram another 10,000 into them.
That $1.77 billion also means their REAL net income is significantly lower than advertised. The bigger the increase of inventory levels, the higher the net income goes. If anyone cares to educate themselves as to why, go here:
http://www.principlesofaccounting.com/chapter%2023.htm
Beaudry @ Feb 1st 2007 5:34PM
"Yeah, Sony will probably just pack up and quit since they only have the 2nd hottest selling portable."
Yeah, beating out what portable for 3rd place? Playing bejeweled on a cell phone?
StMadnes @ Feb 1st 2007 5:44PM
@33
I'd say that's a pretty accurate analysis of Sony's situation with the PSP. To compete with the DS at this point, Sony would have to start by lowering the price of the PSP. Then focus on putting out some more EXCLUSIVE titles.
Still, it's Sony's 1st run in the hand held race. And i just can't wait untill the 2nd version comes out(PSP2?). Because by then, i'm sure that Sony will have worked out all of the problems of the original psp like: the poor battery life and the lack of memory issues.
Nintendo has had a head start in the hand held race. Eventually, they were able to find their niche with the DS Lite. But they still had their share of handhelds to go through before finally owning.
However, I insist that the PSP is still successful in comparison to other handhelds that were completely overshadowed by the DS. I mean can we give Sony credit for something?!!! Oh i forgot.. i'm amongst a horde of wiimote tossing Ninny fanboys!
BPM @ Feb 1st 2007 6:54PM
StMadnes, you had a pretty nice post... until that "fanboy" line at the end. -_-
Also, Nintendo has always owned the handheld market. Not one single competitor (Game Gear, Lynx, Turbo-Express, NeoGeo Pocket, N-Gage, etc.) could topple Nintendo's line of handhelds. It's just that the PSP has taken the biggest chunk out of the marketshare from Nintendo.
steve @ Feb 1st 2007 7:51PM
but that is a typo! its 100,000 not 10,000. XD
cornelious @ Feb 1st 2007 8:21PM
LOL...good one Lou! Making a xbox man laugh! (even though I will eventually get something from all systems)
sheppy @ Feb 1st 2007 8:40PM
I don't really see this as a death of PSP in general. Truth be told, I think it's unfortunate. After all, Sony was one hell of a force and actually kept Nintendo on their handheld toes. PSP also had one of the best launches in gaming history so it's hard for me to see where all this PSP hate stems from.
Sony, for the most part, is responsible for some of this. They swore they would limit the ports and yet third parties just went willy nilly with their drops, often offering zero discount for for the ports. Some companies did okay in this regard (like Ridge Racer and Burnout Legends were both worth the asking price) but others did straight ports.
Likewise, third parties just refused to bring their A game. EA was the most hilarious for me because, when they weren't shipping glitch loaded ports (Madden anyone?), they were shipping halfassed game concepts (LOTR Tactics anyone?) and when this crap just didn't peddle in the numbers they wanted, they were all over bashing Sony because of it. Personally, I feel if a company can manage to move 300,000+ copies of a broken madden for a portable at the same price as the Xbox and PS2 version, they have no right to bitch but I digress.
Other companies brought a hefty amount of support but just couldn't see the return on that support. PSP, right now, seems to be the best concole catering to ultra niche JRPGs thanks largely to NIS America, Atlus USA, and even Mastiff. I mean, as if getting the great traditional RPG Legend Of Heroes III recently was not enough, Gurumin, Monster Kingdom. Valhalla Nights, and possibly even Jeanne D'Arc. So in this regard, PSP definately serves a function for the hardcore RPG players. Defnately more so than the Nintendo DS since most RPGs on that console are either few and far between, or complete and utter crap. But that's just my opinion.
And while people love to complain about the lack of original content on the PSP, all they have to do is go to a store. PSP has a ton of original content but people love to focus on the ports. And hell, some of the ports are phenominal like Megaman X and Megaman Powered Up.
The UMD as a media format was a big mistake. But I was amused how many people were using the "more movies than games" excuse to hate. A game takes months and months of development time. A movie takes 16 hours to format to the PSP and add in some menus and compression (A friend of mine did some menu designs for a couple UMDs and he's where I got this figure). And the companies were dumping everything they had, expecting consumers to buy more movies than games on a game console for less special features and more money, no less. UMD may have survived if Disney didn't say "Okay, we want $35 for Pirates Of The Carribean on PSP" and started around $10.
In the end, I like my PSP (both of them... one for homebrew, one for legit games) just as I like my Nintendo DS. However, without PSP pushing Nintendo, they have already regressed into their previous state of "half efforts" and I'm saddened to see Nintendo slipping precariously back into old habits. But that's what happens when people scream "There can be only one!" Well, guess what, now there is only one market leader by a huge margin. I already see DS's golden period shriveling under the brightness of their own sales as they march forward uncontested, again. Having PSP there, nipping on their toes with every step, was what lead Nintendo to abandon their previous handheld strategy of Pokemon Dash, Super Mario Port 28, and Warioware Touched and start trying more. With PSP rapidly losing ground, I can't say we won't see that period repeat itself.