So who really has sold more consoles? Sony or Microsoft?

[Samus Aran]

numonex said:
"The general consensus between the two main competing consoles, the Xbox 360 and the PS3 is that, the Xbox 360 has sold more consoles and is in the "lead", is this really the case? factually speaking it is, but who is really selling more consoles, and how strong is each sale for each company?


The first thing, many people choose to ignore or forget to mention is the fact that Microsoft's Xbox 360 has been out for at least a year longer in all territories, obviously a lead in sales is expected, when it's the only HD "Next-Gen"console on the market, right?


Secondly, looking at the prices of these two consoles as another factor, one cannot help but say the PS3 is performing far stronger than most think, launching at $600 a piece, at least $200 more expensive than the Xbox 360 launch price, it is clearly quite a feat to still be in the title race.


With all factors combined, the year head start and cheaper console, the Microsoft Xbox 360 can be seen to be under performing and in contrary the Sony PS3, thriving, strange views for most I'm sure, but if you do the math, a more expensive console + a year late to the market, going on to sell over 21 million units is remarkable, and in comparison, the 8 million or so lead by the Xbox 360 seems pretty small.


Again I stress that you put all factors together, the price, the launch time and the economy into question, by doing so you'll notice that the PS3 isn't in as much of a bad position as some people might like to think. And as of recently is seeing a huge increase in sales across Japan and other EU territories."

Some key factors omitted by the blogger:

What about PS3 sales being considerably down in comparison to PS2 sales from last generation?

X360 during its year head start was competing directly with a much cheaper well established system in the PS2 which ate into X360 sales.

X360 had production issues in its first year which adversely impacted on X360 first year sales.

"Play Station" is a more established brand name which is well recognised by consumers which helped push PS3 sales in its early years.

 

All that matters is that the xbox360 is outselling the ps3 every month now. Oh, and don't forget about the wii...