PS3 kicks off most successful home console launch in UK... ever
by Ludwig Kietzmann 
{ Mar 26th 2007 at 4:08PM }
With plenty of consoles left in the 220,000 strong initial shipment, it would appear that a strong supply is the key to launch victory. Will sales remain brisk in the foreseeable future? We'll find out soon enough, but until then, expect some elaborately spun responses from Sony's competitors. Perhaps UK journalists ought to return those stacks of beer to Microsoft -- then again, alcohol already seems a likely explanation for steering the Xboat to the wrong continent.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Save @ Mar 26th 2007 4:15PM
But the Wii numbers were limited because it sold out.
Scot Evel @ Mar 26th 2007 4:12PM
waits for fanboys to spin this into bad news
AirIntake @ Mar 26th 2007 4:13PM
This surprises me. Well, good luck Sony, you're still going to need it.
Evan @ Mar 26th 2007 4:13PM
Having a better launch doesn't mean anything.
The PSP had a better launch than the DS, but the DS is now outselling the PSP. The N64 had a better launch than the PlayStation, and the PlayStation won. In North America, the original XBox had a better launch than the PS2, and the PS2 came out on top.
Saneless @ Mar 26th 2007 5:54PM
Not bad.. but basically anyone who wanted one was able to buy it and did. When you look at it like that, hmm, not that positive because the only thing holding back Nintendo was the supply. I'm sure if they had 250,000 units they would've sold 250K.
IslandLife @ Mar 26th 2007 4:14PM
Ummm captain, your Xboat is sinking.
Women and children first and children first, and children first
I laugh until my head comes off...
Crono @ Mar 26th 2007 4:16PM
Why should it suprise you? Everyone who wanted one got one, and there's still plenty on the shelves. It probably would have sold 3 or 4 times that if there was adequate supply in the US at launch (because everybody still thought it was the shiznite, not we know better).
The real question is staying power. Does the PS3 have it, or will sales begin to slump as in the US.
Matt B @ Mar 26th 2007 4:16PM
:)
sheppy @ Mar 26th 2007 4:17PM
Umm, sales picked up in the states, Crono.
Anywho... yeah, agreed. All this proves is better launch supply.
Avinash_Tyagi @ Mar 26th 2007 4:20PM
Since when did the UK become Europe?
Brandon @ Mar 26th 2007 8:49PM
No, it doesn't mean it's going to come out on top...what it does mean is that all the hating MS fanboys have their foot in their mouth now claiming that the PS3 launch was a flop. Obviously it was quite the opposite.
Wort @ Mar 26th 2007 4:18PM
Crono.. do you seriously think that the Wii has staying power?
Look at it this way, the 7 year old PS2 is still selling 300k units a month in the USA alone.. which has a better chance of doing that in 7 years time; the Wii or PS3.
fishamaphone @ Mar 26th 2007 4:18PM
I'd actually like wait to see what the numbers for the other two consoles are. If MS and the big N both saw major boosts in sales this weekend, it signifies some level of flop-ness. Unfortunately, I have never seen a reliable source for European console numbers.
Also, especially considering the differences in supply issues, the first month will be more telling of the console's success than the first two days.
I mean, from what I've been reading elsewhere, this launch is nothing to brag about.
Shadow @ Mar 26th 2007 11:23PM
Interesting, but there's two bits of information I would like to find out. One bit of information we'll see in time, but the other we'll probably never know for sure.
1)We all know Sony loves to pass off "Shipped" as "Sold" so I wonder if this is shipped and not sold. Of course, the news article makes mention that there are still PS3s to be sold, so this is more than likely true figures.
2)How many of these sold PS3s are Ebayers. We all know the PS3 shot off in the USA as well, but then died down after people weren't buying them on Ebay. It will be interesting to see if the same thing is happening in Europe, or if these sales will continue to be on the up and up.
Either way, I applaud Sony. Even when you think they screwed up they still manage to do something right, and that seems to be the Europe launch. Now let's see if they can continue this European success.
Paul @ Mar 26th 2007 5:51PM
Bottom line Kudos to sony for being the first to actually have a properly supplied launch... now can they sustain sales is the next question.
why not the LS2/LS7? @ Mar 26th 2007 4:20PM
This is good news. But Sony needs to build on it rapidly. Singstar should help, that's the good part. But after that comes the lull. I hope sales can be sustained at a decent clip during this lull.
Come on Sony, get this ball rolling, kick PS3 to the next level.
noob @ Mar 26th 2007 4:21PM
EH yeah whatever. Fony said it would sell out but you can stil buy them. I feel bad for everyone whos trying to sell it on ebay lol.
mushiking @ Mar 26th 2007 4:21PM
i think you're all missing something here: this is just the UK numbers in two days. by the time we have a full count of Europe, it could be up to 300,000, meaning that they will have completely dominated the Wii.
Neal @ Mar 26th 2007 4:23PM
If we're talking about launch supply, 360 had 300,000 units at launch in Eurpoe (says Wikipedia) and if they only sold 70,000, that blows.
Not to say the PS3 will continue to outsell, and I consider the Wii to be in a different class (not a bad thing, I love my Wii (lol))
But, in comparison, PS3 had a better launch in Europe out of the monster next gens.
In light of all this, I don't see why people would be happy to see it fail (either system). Systems need competition or they'll screw us all over.
JesseJames @ Mar 26th 2007 4:23PM
Read it and weep suckas! It's selling better in America, Japan and Europe! Yeah ok; now the story is; does it have staying power! LOL; wait for your 120 GB hard drives cause that's as good as it's gonna get for the Xbox 360.
Microsoft is known as a computer software company; NOT A VIDEOGAME CONSOLE COMPANY; NOR AN MP3 PLAYER; NOR WILL IT TAKE OFF AS A MEDIA CENTER LIKE APPLE OR SONY!!!!!
This is only the beginning!
mepaco @ Mar 26th 2007 4:24PM
Stop the presses! A launch with enough supply to meet demand outperformed launches with inadequate supply! I never would have imagined.
However, I guess it is good to hear it wasn't a total flop. Well have a much better idea of how it is all gonna shape up in a month or two.
Matt B @ Mar 26th 2007 4:25PM
It is just the start. When these owners' friends come over and play, they will go and get one too. I've only had 3 play mine so far and each is planning on getting one in the near future. Sales should stay steady IMO.
PS. That is just the UK's numbers, not all of europe.
Todd @ Mar 26th 2007 4:25PM
How many showed up on eBay?
rfom @ Mar 26th 2007 4:29PM
Good to see the PS3 doing well, but dont think they will pull back the 8-9million lead untill 2009..then it will depend on whether the Blu-ray gamble pays off. If Blu-ray picks up and HD becomes standard, expect a 362 with HD, lots of pissed off 360 owners. If it doesnt...trouble for PS3.
DBX00 @ Mar 26th 2007 4:26PM
Every other source took a qualitative look at the launch (ie. pictures of lines). These number bring quantitative proof that the launch was far from a failure in the UK. At any rate, I knew the news going around had to be untrue because since the European launch, Europe has been steadily increasing in the number of lights on Folding @ Home. If you haven't seen the software, it has a globe in the background that shows all the people running the software on the PS3. Europe sales are fine and will continue to be fine as long as they follow the lineup schedule as it stands today.
Neal @ Mar 26th 2007 4:26PM
@ mepaco
Refer to my post where it says that 360 had 300k units on launch for Europe, and sold only 70k.
(Assuming those numbers are true (Wikipedia and joystiq) they had plenty of units.
Dolla Dolla @ Mar 26th 2007 4:27PM
@Travis
I think it's a matter of perspective. Expectations were decidely high for the PS3. Damn near everyone expected a sell-out in Europe after it sold out in the US on launch and in Japan on launch, regardless of available launch units. If you expect something to do really really well, and it performs below expectations, it makes it clearer why you hear doom and gloom spelled out from some places.
If the PS3 launched with 1 mil in the states, it would've sold out, plain and simple.
Jack of No Trades @ Mar 26th 2007 4:29PM
165,000 PS3 sold
95,000 returned for Wii's
70,000 returned for 360's.
mepaco @ Mar 26th 2007 4:29PM
@22
Sorry, I was referring more to the Wii. It still remains to be seen how successful it was across Europe. Wii sold 325,000 units in its first two days.
Neal @ Mar 26th 2007 4:32PM
@ Jack
Doubtful that there will be many returns. People have known what the PS3 has and what they're getting into, and they made their decision.
Newman @ Mar 26th 2007 4:38PM
This article seems very fanboyish any here the real article.
http://gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=23781
These are Uk figures "only".
Todd @ Mar 26th 2007 4:32PM
@Jack of No Trades
Where are you getting these figures from?
Dustin @ Mar 26th 2007 5:20PM
And people said that it bombed in Europe.... It's true they didn't sell out, like what the post said (55,000 still available) but still, It's the fastest selling console.
konajinx @ Mar 26th 2007 4:34PM
Oh, Jack of No Talent, you're so clever. No one's going to trade in their Wiis and 360s for a system whose "coolest" current thing is attempting to cure disease. Christ, the gaming world really has gotten weird when people get excited about *that*.
rfom @ Mar 26th 2007 4:39PM
Maybe all gaming companies should try and hold back their console launches till they have a good number of units available...avoids all the shortages unpleasantness.
josh @ Mar 26th 2007 4:37PM
"Look at it this way, the 7 year old PS2 is still selling 300k units a month in the USA alone.. which has a better chance of doing that in 7 years time; the Wii or PS3."
No way the Wii will still be on the market then - I would be amazed if Nintendo didn't release new versions of the Wii every 2-3 years like they do with their handhelds. Which isn't really that bad of a deal (as long as they make them backwards compatible) - it costs half the price of the PS3 so it makes sense.
csc @ Mar 26th 2007 4:37PM
bullshit, I walekd into HMV manchester, one of the biggest cities in the uk and there were stack on a scale of 'dumbass jack tretton' proportions there, and big cheap 'PS3 in stock' signs. wheras ti took me weeks to get a wii after a preorder in october.
Chad @ Mar 26th 2007 4:38PM
The 70 units for the 360 would have been just for UK. There were no 360's to be found in the UK for a couple of months after launch date so they did sell out their initial supply.
Admiral @ Mar 26th 2007 4:38PM
There seems to be a blitz of positive news coming out of Sony-land today...for once. This is good news for all gamers: let the competition begin in earnest!
As an aside, I'm impressed with how powerful the MS online influence is...who else could make the most successful console launch ever in the UK sound like a failure?
copa @ Mar 26th 2007 4:39PM
This is very good news for Sony, and yes, it is important. The midnight launches were an unmitigated disaster, and it is good that those launches were not indicative of the launch weekend as a whole.
Unlike North America, where Sony has no interesting exclusive software coming before the holidays, Europe has a potential smash coming this summer with an online-enabled Singstar. If they can execute, Sony has an opportunity to build on a solid launch install base.
PS3 as a gaming system is a clear success in Japan, and a clear failure in North America thus far. Sony's ability to establish a competitive presence in Europe will probably determine whether they can move on to the next round.
Joe @ Mar 26th 2007 4:44PM
the 360 is losing..imagine if the price for the ps3 was cheaper..ps3 will dominate the sales chart..Sony is gettin 3 new exclusive..fanboy shout out ps3 is doomed to early in the game..lol..and now they are owned..
surur @ Mar 26th 2007 4:44PM
So now we know the total pent up demand for the PS3 was 165 000 units in UK. With pre-orders freely available, and consoles also freely available for walk-in buyers its unfortunately clear that demand is now completely satiated. I guess thats why retailers are already discounting the device.
http://dvd.co.uk/product_PSP360GB.asp
scott @ Mar 26th 2007 4:44PM
Actually copa, the PS3 is NOT doing that well in Japan, they've come to the same realization the north americans have. The system is simply not worth the money at this point.
Jake @ Mar 26th 2007 4:45PM
This mostly has to do with how many they shipped. MS shipped 70,000 and Sony shipped close to 200,000 for their respective launches. The PS3 hasn't sold out, but still sold way more than the 360 and Wii because there simply weren't close to enough 360's.
This should also shed some light onto the PS3's boring launch lines. Hardly anyone was waiting at the doors to get one. Everybody knew there would be plenty of PS3's to go around. Knowing that, why bother camping out 48 hours for the dang thing? Just swing by after work and get one.
The PS3 European launch is much different than the Wii and 360 launches. Sony launched later with ample supply. 360 and Wii launched pretty simeoutaneously, but with half the supply.
This certainly isn't bad news, but it isn't necessarily the greatest either. To call it the most successful launch in console history is a bit subjective; it didn't even sell out. My bet is that the Wii would have outsold the PS3 if both had been in enough supply for everyone that wanted one to get one.
It is funny that the UK is now all of Europe, though.
Lucas @ Mar 26th 2007 7:15PM
____
PS3 = still doomed
I'm not quite sure why anyone would even waste their money on a PS3.
____
Zsavior @ Mar 26th 2007 4:48PM
Umm when did Sony PS3 Do well In Japan? And the article says UK, so that isn't all of Europe. So how is Sony suddenly the top selling system because One place?
AKM @ Mar 26th 2007 4:49PM
Xbox boat sinking already? LOL. I guess Capitan has too much of cheap beer :-)
Jake @ Mar 26th 2007 4:51PM
It is kind of funny to hear the Sony fanboys come out and declare this as the end of the console war. Christ, the thing didn't even sell out in its first week. It is nice that they were able to sell a decent amount, but the 360 and soon Wii were/are out of stock for weeks after selling 165,000 to UK/Europe (same thing in Joystiq world.)
Ian M @ Mar 26th 2007 4:53PM
People you must remember: this is with no real decent launch titles! Imagine what will happen when final fantasy XIII is released! and MGS4!
well first off due to massive PS3 usage business will grind to a halt and all power will be directed for PS3 use only. a dark age will decend on britain and the fanboys will emerge. there will be burnings and riots and then and only then will we see which console has the most fans.
My moneys on the Wii fans, while smaller in number, the wii actually trains them for this moment with its wiimote games. they weill be a small elite group that imposes total dominance on the land. however, generally being an allright bunch, they will put things back together and we will be ready for the next next gen console war.
what you didnt hear about the sega riots of '94?
Admiral @ Mar 26th 2007 4:52PM
@38 ichabod
You're implying that Sony collected up all of the unsold PS3s from the US and shipped them to the UK for their launch. Didn't you know that the European version is different than the US version?
Doh.