playstationuniversity.com
in Latvia. The chorus goes "Wii, Wii, Wii all the way home.” Anyway,
in the battle for second place, the situation is hotting up. With
Microsoft announcing 40 million worldwide Xbox 360 sales the question
now is how far behind is the PlayStation 3. If we look at the figures,
the answer is ‘not very’.
Although US hardware sales usually have the Xbox 360 in the
lead, or neck-and-neck with the PS3, the worldwide situation is very different. Ever since
the launch of the PS3 Slim and its adjoining $100 price cut, sales have
taken Sony by surprise. So much so, that the company has cited hardware
shortages. A little foolish, but the problems may have something to do
with the latest PS3 redesign.
Microsoft has now announced 40.2 million Xbox 360’s shipped
worldwide, so we thought we’d compare and contrast this with sales of
the PlayStation 3. The following figures (from Microsoft and Sony fiscal
results) take us from the Xbox 360’s 2005 launch, right up to the
latest figures:
2005-06
Xbox 360 – 5.0 million units
2006-07
360 – 6.6m
PS3 – 4.2m
2007-08
360 – 8.7m
PS3 – 10.0m
2008-09
360 – 11.1m
PS3 – 9.6m
2009-10
360 – 8.8m
PS3 – 9.7m
These sales bring total
sales to 40.2 million Xbox 360’s and 33.5 million PS3’s. That’s a
difference of 6.7 million units. However, there’s something we’re not
telling you. Sony has yet to announce it’s last quarter’s results,
meaning that the Xbox 360’s numbers are made up of three fiscal
quarters, compared to only two for the PS3. And as you can see the PS3
already leads by almost one-million units. So lets take a closer look:
Microsoft’s Fiscal Year 2009-10
——- Q1 — Q2 — Q3 — Q4 — FY — LTD
360: 2.1 — 5.2 — 1.5 — ? — 8.8 —- 40.2
PS3: 3.2 — 6.5 — ? —- ? —- 9.7 —- 33.5
Wii: 3.5 — 11.3 — ? — ? — 14.8 —- 67.4
Sony and Nintendo have yet to report their Q3 results (Q3 in
Microsoft’s fiscal year). For Sony to meet its projections, the PS3 must
have sold 2.2 million units in this quarter and, though shipments may
have been tight, we expect Sony to meet this goal. The platform holder
may even have bumped numbers up to 2.5 million (or more) — a sales
result that would bring the difference between the Xbox 360 and PS3 to
only 4.2 million units. That’s quite a success for a company that was
solidly in third place and struggling to make ground.
Of course, it’s a congratulations to Microsoft for shipping 40
million units. We look forward to Sony’s latest figures which will
solidify the gap between the two current generation consoles. | 
