According to the NPD group (Silicon Alley Insider via CNNMoney.com), “sales of the PS3 are down about 19% from November 2007. Sony was only able to sell 378,000 PS3s this November, compared to 466,000 last year.” I’m very aware of the fact that we are living in one of the rockiest financial times in many decades, but this is definitely not a good sign for the PS3. Sillicon Alley Insider goes on to state several other figures, such as the XBOX360 (+59,000 units) and Wii (+Million) having great growth in that same period. This shows the consumer is obviously pursuing lower-cost machines and the PS3 is awkwardly stuck between the outro of the XBOX360 and the booming sales of the Wii. They go on to state some other key reasons:
So why is the PS3 flopping so badly?
- It’s the most expensive console on the market, $150 – $200 more than its rivals. Even if you believe the video game industry is “recession-proof” (it isn’t), a tanking economy makes consumers more price-conscious.
- The PS3’s big bonus is its ability to double as a Blu-Ray player. Too bad no one seems to care about hi-def DVDs. The differences between Blu-Ray and DVD are hard to see on a TV less than 50″.
- The PS3 just doesn’t have any must-have titles exclusive to the console. “LittleBigPlanet” has generated decent buzz but isn’t a game-changer, and neither is Sony’s new virtual world “Home.”
