ChartTrack has confirmed that 165,000 PS3 units were sold during the console's launch weekend.

The figure is three quarters of the total 220,000 UK launch stock for day one, and makes PS3 second only to PSP in the overall launch weekend sales stakes. The Sony handheld shifted 185,000 in its opening weekend back in September 2005.

PS3’s record-breaking debut for a home console comfortably beats the previous top seller Nintendo Wii, which sold 105,000 after its frantic launch weekend in December last year. Fellow format rival Xbox 360 racked up an estimated 70,000 at launch in December 2005.


http://www.mcvuk.com/news/26261/Record-breaking-165000-PS3s-sold-at-UK-launch


And it looks like across the EU 520,000 PS3's were sold in just 2 days!!
http://digg.com/gaming_news/PS3_sells_520_000_in_Europe_in_it_s_first_weekend
This is more than the entire worldwide HD-DVD installed user base.


Really great news for BD :)

Not a bad notch in the belt of the installes BluRay base...

Not a bad notch in the belt of the installed BluRay base...

I'd love to know how many of those sales were people hoping to cash in at ebay.

Everything else that I've read declared the launch a near-disaster. Even Sony acknowledged it could've/should've been a lot better. I'm sure the price hike didn't help things...

(Before this turns into a flame war and/or someone takes my comments out of context, I'm not a fan boi for either side and currently only have a PS3.)

These figures look a little dubious to me (and many others in the UK). The PS3 is available pretty much everywhere still, with very very few shops actually sold out. It's also still in stock on pretty much every website - one of the websites has reduced the price to £399 (from £425) already.

If it did sell 165k, there must have been way more than 220k available at launch.

I already have a US one, so I didn't get one at launch here.

PS The Wii is still sold out everywhere - stores and online have nothing at all- 3 months after launch.

I'd love to know how many of those sales were people hoping to cash in at ebay.

Everything else that I've read declared the launch a near-disaster. Even Sony acknowledged it could've/should've been a lot better. I'm sure the price hike didn't help things...

(Before this turns into a flame war and/or someone takes my comments out of context, I'm not a fan boi for either side and currently only have a PS3.)


It seems to be the latest internet fad to hate Sony (the source of all evil in the world :rolleyes: ).

You cannot argue the facts though, and PS3 sold tons more than Nintendo Wii on its opening weekend in the UK.

This is a great success for Sony and for Blu-ray!!

"Everything else that I've read declared the launch a near-disaster."

selling more than your competition combined (360 and Wii) in the same time frame is a disaster. Sony sure has had a lot of freaking disasters then. SWEEEET! :p

^^

Well did the Wii or 360 just launch the same weekend?
If they've been available for awhile then, the launch was a pure disaster.

^^

Well did the Wii or 360 just launch the same weekend?
If they've been available for awhile then, the launch was a pure disaster.


I am almost speechless after reading your reply. The article CLEARLY states that it is comparing the launch weekend sales of PS3 (around March 23, 2007) to the launch weekend sales of the Wii (around November 23, 2006) to the launch weekend sales of the Xbox 360 (around November 23, 2005).

The PS3 has had the best home console launch weekend in UK history.

^^

Well did the Wii or 360 just launch the same weekend?
If they've been available for awhile then, the launch was a pure disaster.

from the article:

PS3’s record-breaking debut for a home console comfortably beats the previous top seller Nintendo Wii, which sold 105,000 after its frantic launch weekend in December last year. Fellow format rival Xbox 360 racked up an estimated 70,000 at launch in December 2005.

I guess I was looking at the reports on Europe as a whole instead of focusing on the UK. This article (http://www.playfuls.com/news_06713_Europeans_Reject_the_PS3_Due_to_High_Price.html) claims only 5% of available units sold in France. I thought the French were supposed to hate the US, not Japan! :)

This article (http://www.playfuls.com/news_06713_Europeans_Reject_the_PS3_Due_to_High_Price.html) claims only 5% of available units sold in France. I thought the French were supposed to hate the US, not Japan! :)

5% of available units... during the Paris launch event!

I bought my PS3 for £260 in Tokyo 3 months ago, So how come the PS3 is £260 in Japan and £425 in Europe, Japanese wages are higher than European wages, Shipping don’t cost £165 a time. We are ripped off in Europe all the time and we let them do it.

I paid £179 for my Wii, its £120 in Japan ,the 360 is £280 in the UK and around £220 in the US, so that’s about a £60 difference both times, ok I can live with that, but a £165 difference, do Sony think Europeans are stupid?”

Dam, that is quite a difference.

This means little. PS3 did well at launch in the states as well. Did we all overlook this tidbit?

and makes PS3 second only to PSP in the overall launch weekend sales stakes.

The PSP. Now there's a runaway success. It's totally dominating the handheld market. :rolleyes:

Don't get caught up in launch numbers. That goes for the low sales in other countries as well. This fight doesn't heat up until the fall. It is a nice addition to the installed base, though.

Assuming these numbers are accurate, the PS3 did better than I expected. 165k units in a weekend is a decent chunk of sales.

However, if there had been 200k units of the wii available at launch I'm sure they would have sold out equally fast. The only reason they sold so many units is that they held off the launch until they had a substantial supply.

Is this entire forum subsumed by the console war?

People - PS3 as a Blu-ray player is the way to look at it in a Blu-ray forum, not PS3 vs Wii, or 360, or any of the rest of it.

So... 165k PS3's in the UK over the weekend, to me, means this: Blu-ray is going to see a significant boost in Europe shortly.

Not a bad notch in the belt of the installes BluRay base...

especially considering that there are like, what, 8000 HD-DVD players total in the UK? :D

Lets not forget that Sony also gave out free TVs for the PS3 launch...

http://gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=23725

Lets not forget that Sony also gave out free TVs for the PS3 launch...

http://gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=23725

yup, the small amount of TV's that people didn't know they were going to get. ;)

5% of available units... during the Paris launch event!

Exactly.

France still hasn't reported the initial sale numbers for the PS3. All we know so far is that 60,000 units had been reserved out of the initial 100K allocation (according to Sony), and that local videogame chain Micromania had sold nearly its entire stock allocation of 10,000.

Back to the launch event. I had received an invite but decided not to go because the weather was freezing cold. I've wondered what was the point anyway to throw those Euro parties on a thursday, to celebrate something that was released 4 months before in many other areas of the world.

Besides, they weren't giving away Bravia Full HD sets at the Paris event, so... :)

I'd love to know how many of those sales were people hoping to cash in at ebay.



Having sufficient supply effectively kills ebayers. So I would doubt anyone in UK would be trying to make a profit on a PS3 (especially considering the prices there).

Having sufficient supply effectively kills ebayers. So I would doubt anyone in UK would be trying to make a profit on a PS3 (especially considering the prices there).

You'd be surprised. A quick ebay.co.uk search brings up over 580 items when narrowing the search (http://listings.ebay.co.uk/_W0QQsocmdZListingItemList?sofocus=so&sbrftog=1&socmd=ListingItemList&catref=C3&from=R2&satitle=&sacat=149492%26catref%3DC6&a14=-24&a10244=-24&a24197=-24&alist=a14%2Ca10244%2Ca24197%2Ca3801&pfmode=1&reqtype=2&gcs=1134&pfid=1628&pf_query=&sargn=-1%26saslc%3D3&sadis=200&fpos=Postcode&sascs=2&itemcondn=1&ga10244=10425&ftrt=1&ftrv=1&price=1&saprclo=200&saprchi=&fsop=1%26fsoo%3D1&coaction=compare&copagenum=1&coentrypage=search&fgtp=) to new and >£200.

This site has also been amusing to watch: UK Resistance (http://www.ukresistance.co.uk/) . It really boggles the mind how many people enjoy watching Sony "suffer". Schadenfreude at its finest.

QUICK somebody come up with some ridiculous excuses for sony's success! the evil sony empire cannot be allowed to win.

Azumi: agree. I was in Paris last week, and the weather was horrible. I am sure hat had more to do with the flop at that one, outdoor event, then anything else.

R.I.P HDDVD in Eurpoe.

These figures look a little dubious to me (and many others in the UK). The PS3 is available pretty much everywhere still, with very very few shops actually sold out.

That's true but not necessarily an indication of poor sales. There are many things that sell well but don't sell out. Selling out is basically an indication of the ability of the retailer/manufacturer to estimate demand. There might be 150k units available in the UK right now but there could have been 300k available to begin with.

With regards to the Wii, yes it "only" sold 109k units but they could have sold more had they been able to supply them. I assumed the public's casual indifference to Nintendo products would continue and saw no need to pre-order. I was so wrong, it's untrue.

5% of available units... during the Paris launch event!

What about the other countries, any numbers ? I think 5% sold in France is rather good for a region coded player. Great news for BR.

It seems to be the latest internet fad to hate Sony (the source of all evil in the world :rolleyes: ).

You cannot argue the facts though, and PS3 sold tons more than Nintendo Wii on its opening weekend in the UK.

This is a great success for Sony and for Blu-ray!!
People hate Sony for a reason. People don't just pick a brand and decide to bash it for no reason. I own a PSP and darn, I only have two freaking games and I haven't touched it in almost two years! Sony is more arrogant than Microsoft and Apple combined. Sony think that people are stupid and will eat anything that they spit out. In a way, Sony is right, there are some out there who will waste their money on overpriced products like people who buy Monster Cable and Bose. Amercians are lucky to be a big market and therefore got a good price on the PS3. For others, they are getting hosed, especially the UK. Come on Europeans, show Sony that you're not stupid!

You'd be surprised. A quick ebay.co.uk search brings up over 580 items when narrowing the search (http://listings.ebay.co.uk/_W0QQsocmdZListingItemList?sofocus=so&sbrftog=1&socmd=ListingItemList&catref=C3&from=R2&satitle=&sacat=149492%26catref%3DC6&a14=-24&a10244=-24&a24197=-24&alist=a14%2Ca10244%2Ca24197%2Ca3801&pfmode=1&reqtype=2&gcs=1134&pfid=1628&pf_query=&sargn=-1%26saslc%3D3&sadis=200&fpos=Postcode&sascs=2&itemcondn=1&ga10244=10425&ftrt=1&ftrv=1&price=1&saprclo=200&saprchi=&fsop=1%26fsoo%3D1&coaction=compare&copagenum=1&coentrypage=search&fgtp=) to new and >£200.

This site has also been amusing to watch: UK Resistance (http://www.ukresistance.co.uk/) . It really boggles the mind how many people enjoy watching Sony "suffer". Schadenfreude at its finest.
Did you see the Paris launch? LOL!

http://digg.com/gaming_news/PS3_sells_520_000_in_Europe_in_it_s_first_weekend

According to this it was even higher.

Let us not forget the Wii was in short supply in the Uk on release.

http://digg.com/gaming_news/PS3_sells_520_000_in_Europe_in_it_s_first_weekend

According to this it was even higher.

Wow! 520,000 sold across the EU in only 2 days!!


Isn't that more than the entire worldwide HD-DVD install base, and Sony sold that many players in 2 days just in the EU :eek:


Great news for Blu-ray :)

People hate Sony for a reason. People don't just pick a brand and decide to bash it for no reason. I own a PSP and darn, I only have two freaking games and I haven't touched it in almost two years! Sony is more arrogant than Microsoft and Apple combined. Sony think that people are stupid and will eat anything that they spit out. In a way, Sony is right, there are some out there who will waste their money on overpriced products like people who buy Monster Cable and Bose. Amercians are lucky to be a big market and therefore got a good price on the PS3. For others, they are getting hosed, especially the UK. Come on Europeans, show Sony that you're not stupid!


Sony's pricing of the PS3 around the world is very difficult to understand. Hong Kong is a very small place and a very small potential market comapred to most European countries and USA and yet, The price of PS3 in Hong Kong is the cheapest in the world.

Good news.

Let us not forget the Wii was in short supply in the Uk on release.

So what? And PS3 costs 3x as much as a wii.

So what? And PS3 costs 3x as much as a wii.

Diddn't you hear? It is a disaster when a company actually is able to supply enough for the demand of a high end product. It would be much better to manufacture 10,000 consoles and sell out than 500,000 and not sell out :rolleyes:

Moved to gaming.

The price of PS3 in Hong Kong is the cheapest in the world.

hong kong also leads the world in economic freedom. coincidence? ;)