Now I'm not starting this thread to cause a big argument or anything like that but in all honesty how are PS3 sales so low? Considering that Sony said that by the end of June (please correct me if I'm wrong) that they had shipped 38.1 million consoles http://community.eu.playstation.com/t5/PlayStation-3-General-Discussion/PS3-Sells-38-1-Million-Units-Worldwide-Trails-Xbox-360-by-3/td-p/11230379

At this point since the begging of July Sony has sold roughly (acording to vgchartz) an extra 1 million or so PS3's since then (Sony probably shipped more than that ) so therefore  they've most likely shipped well over 39 million consoles which would mean there is an extra 2 million or so on the shelves compared to what they've sold.

I don't know, but this just doesn't make sense to me. Does it to anyone else

P.S I've had some drinks (going out to the bar in an hour) so if this sounds stupid, my apologies :P

Well, someone has to have an agreeing or opposing opinion on this :P

why not? retailers still have to purchase them from sony. All sales through the stores go into retailers pockets anyway, so why shouldn't free ones count? Doesn't cost sony anything right?

someone from this site said that its because  sony likes to overship alot 

Given away for free? What do you mean by that? I can see where your reasoning comes from when it comes to the difficulty to track in the regions you've mentioned, but i mean at the same time we had pretty accurate 360 #'s as well as Big N numbers (shipped vs sold) but when it comes to Sony there is quite the gigantic gap which doesnt make any sense to me.

Either Sony has a mojor issue with there numbers , or  else Sony is way over shipping there PS3's or Vgchatz needs to lower there numbers fro 360 and Wii.

doesn't make sense, sony doesn't ship it for free. Retailers have to place an order (buy them).

i know ,  next finnancial reports will be interesting

It could be true in some sense but to have an overshipment of 2 million consoles seems a little bit out there. I mean I live in a small city (Sudbury - 170,000 population roughly) but most stores around here have maybe 2-3 PS3's on the shelf at a time (there not too much overstocked here), mind you ever city is different . 

Also when they first get there shipments (e.g Future Shop and Walmart) they have usually 15-20 PS3's (weekly)

yes it will