PS3 finally hits 4 million units SOLD TO CUSTOMERS

[SilentWolf]

naznatips said:

SilentWolf said:
@naznatips
I have no idea where I saw this, but didn't you once say that it is illegal for Sony(or any other company like them) to report sold to consumers since there is no realistic way to obtain exact numbers?

Maybe I was just seeing things, but do you remember saying/typing that?

If you did, do you have anything like a link to this law?

Again I might have just been seeing things, but it could help to clear this up.

Financial reports by law must be accurate sales figures. I'm guessing that's what you are refering to. I think you misunderstood me. You can not lie on a financial report. These are legal documents that are filed with the IRS, and they must be completely accurate statistical data involving the finances of the company. Sony can not legally file a report for sold to consumers, because that is not Sony's finances. They don't sell to consumers, and they have no data on what is sold to consumers.

So, for example, say I sell rocks to walmart, who sells them to consumers. I can't file a financial report for how many rocks walmart sold, because after I sold them to walmart, they became walmart's product, no longer mine. It's the same thing with Sony. Sony ships electronics to warehouses (this used to be what they filed on their report), and then they sell the product to retailers. These are the only 2 units of meassure availbale to them to file in their reports. Those are the only 2 numbers related to their products. They can not say how much as been sold to consumers on a financial report, because they DO NOT SELL TO CONSUMERS. They can use things like NPD to say "look, worldwide we have sold about this much," but there is a large difference between a press release on statistical sales estimates (such as those given my NPD and VGC) and financial earnings reports. Does that explain it?

Yeah; Thanks.  That clears up a good amount.