| GameAnalyser said: The problem being most of them posting comments on this thread are considering PS3 sales to go down the drain immediately with the launch of next-gen consoles. This however will not be the case. That's why prices are cut and that undeniably would be the sole sustaining factor for the consoles to survive the late-phase in their cycle. PS3 has outsold Wii U 59 % from launch. Xbox 720 or PS4 being a GPU powerhouse 4 or 5 times stronger than their predecessor is not going to create a dent in the sales. However, it would be idiotic to say that there won't be any decline at all. PS2 continued to sell at a respectable rate even in 2007 when God of WAR 2 was the priced exclusive. Many consumers at the E3 2006 expo were held back at the idea to buy the then next gen consoles (360 or PS3) when GOW 2 could pull an amazing feat on PS2. The large chunk of growing user-base in Europe and Japan will continue to contribute for the sales of both PS3 hardware and software units for a longer period. This could be owing to its multiple quality exclusives. MGS4, God of War 3 and many JRPGs will still find a gaming audience. I'm not excluding Americas and other regions under the EMEA as there will be a minimal yet sustainable contribution from them too. And this makes a mention about how Sony‘s marketing failures in the region proved costly against its competitors. But over the longer period certain lessons were learnt and they rectified some of them beginning with the launch of the slim model in 2009 at a competitive price. The price point will be reduced to a level appealing to the mass-market until 2016. This post is also targeting at those who believe that PS3 will never surpass Wii. How are Wii and Wii U doing currently in comparison to PS3? What are the reasons for them doing so? These are the questions one need to know the answers to, before blatantly opposing the probabilities put forth by articles such as by this thread’s title as well. |
It won't pass the Wii due to a number of factors, for one this isn't the PS2 that console had no alternative while the PS3 has the 360 around which shares a lot of it's games with a superior online service where as PS2 had a library almost entirely of exclusives you couldn't get anywhere else. Wii U is a newly launched console and has yet to really get it's supply chain flowing and big guns out yet in 6 weeks it shifted 2.5m which only the Wii itself has sold more at launch in fact it's only a few K short of what the Wii sold back at launch, comparing PS3's current sales to a launch machine and using it as a basis is flawed because both 360 and PS3 were outsold at their launch by PS2 for months before they began pushing forward. For starters the U has outsold the PS3 every week in Japan since launch and that in itself is a problem for the PS3's long term sales because most of PS2's sales in the HD era were from Japan as eastern developers still released games on it for a while after 2007 and with the U becoming Japan's choice of platform this early on it will cause further sales drops when the PS4 arrives.
Brand power of the Playstation name has obviously changed since the PS2 as well, PS1 dominanted the market and that domination was built on by the PS2, PS3 however faltered and has not only lost the brand's market leader status but been given a hard fought run for it's money it's no longer the go to brand for gaming. Yeah it's having a late surge in sales recently but is that due to the PS3's strentghs or the fact that MS and Nintendo are in transition for the next gen because once these two get the ball rolling again I don't see the PS3 maintaining any of the current momentum which where the PS4 will have to come in.
People are expecting the sales of PS3 to drop more drastically then the PS2 because the whole situation is different, this is late in a gen which has been a difficult one for them with new hardware turning up possibly this very year and a difference in brand power and stronger competition. Even now Wii is selling around 200k a week despite having support cut by Nintendo so it's not like the PS3 has a static target either.
