Sony Q4 and FY 2011 : PS3 1.9m shipped - PSV 1.8m lifetime.

[NotStan]

theprof00 said:

NotStan said:

theprof00 said:
@360 undertracked by having so much stock.

We are seeing the effects of the overproduction now with the advent of the 99$ 360 subscription. It was very telling when the subscription news came out. It is clearly a direct response to under-selling.

@PS3 being overtracked by having so little stock as of March.

It will not have the same levels on shelves MS has. Possible over-tracking by 500k at the very most. Sales in all regions were very good for the ps3 this past year, and Thai flooding could easily result in supply constraint.

Most importantly, both consoles are in line with Mediacreate, famitsu, NPD, etc any possible overtracking or undertracking can only be from developing regions, of which they currently do not even account for either number in full. The situation I proposed above is a very likely one.

MS overstocked, 99$ subs console near confirmation of this.
PS3 possibly overtracked. Sony confirms revisement of sold number downward as attributed to Thai flooding. Supply constraint is possible.

How the subscription indicates overstock according to you is beyond me. If anything, it indicates MS want to extend the generation as much as possible and cash in on the 360 before a successor comes out, just because the deal is out now, does not necessarily mean that they've overstocked it, they're just trying to capitalize and maximize the sale of the console more than anything, after all, according to some this subscription service will cost more than the bundle in itself.

Bottom line is, this new deal in no way signals apparent overstocking according to you.

Whereas the PS3 shelf numbers are way too low, without any retailers reporting shortages and some even dropping the price to $199 recently what does that signal? That PS3 is overtracked by about 1.5m and the retailers are trying to shift the extra supply? See, a spin can be placed unto anything really.

Your view is that MS simply want to sell their console for longer.

My view is that this is a response to not enough consoles being sold. It is a price cut, albeit a pseudo cut. And price-cuts are made in response to lagging sales. You don't do this if sales aren't slowing. Yes, they are making more money on it, but that does not logically follow as a counter-argument. The fact is that this is a lower entry price. Generally, prices are lowered to combat sales drops. The same could be extended to "entry price".

The lack of announced shortage is why I said it's possibly 500k overtracked. The 199$ Ps3 was done by one retailer, which means they likely over-ordered. See being logical works in any situation really.

I said it was overtracked in a region of 500-750k earlier on in the thread, which seems more likely in comparison with some stating that it's like a million overtracked.

Your first assumption is weird to say the least, and slightly biased I must say(hence my sarcastic counter-biased response in regards to the PS3 overtracking by like 1.5m). And in any case, I think there were already adjustments that would bring the 360 down to average stock levels. If they are planning a price cut this year, then luring a few hundred thousand people onto a contract which will realistically bring in the same revenue just over two years before a price drop will yield more profit? Again, I am finding your argument of "too much supply, so we've pulled a subscription deal out of our ass" drastic and unreal. Although I do agree that the deal is likely in place as a temporary price cut to increase sales, it's unlikely that it's supply based price cut, more of the fact that sales are dying down on the entire 6th generation.

The deal was also price matched by few others. That was in US, in UK it's similar story, price wars are waged, if you are sitting on smaller than usual supply to what end would you try to shift ASAP? It's likely overtracked in the regions that are usually classed as "others", and the NPD has been rather dodgy the last few months.