Shadow1980 said:
The data used in the graphs in my post from earlier is all NPD data. In any case, I would be remiss to not point out that we shouldn't make too big a deal of these early sales figures. The PS4 will likely fall short of what the PS2 did in 2001 and the XBO might just about match what the 360 did in 2006, but sales curves in the long term are impossible to determine. We don't know how much they'll grow over the next couple of years, and we don't know how fast they'll taper after they've peaked. The Wii and PS2 are the two fastest-selling systems in history, and that's a tough act to follow, but being the fastest-selling system ever in your first year or two isn't as important as having strong growth leading into the peak year and having strong legs in the years following the peak year. The Wii sold even faster than the PS2 early on, but ultimately could not outsell the PS2 over the course of its life. Meanwhile, the 360 sold far slower early on but has now passed the Wii to become the second-best-selling console in U.S. history. The PS1 languished for two years in the U.S., being outsold by the N64 for nearly a whole year until Final Fantasy VII came out, and then it took off like a rocket and eventually outsold the N64 by a wide margin. The PS3 sold not too far above GameCube levels in 2007 and 2008 in the U.S. and Japan, but it went on to sell over double what the GC did. The PS4 could go on to sell very well, possibly over 40 or even 50 million units in the U.S. and 120 million or more globally by time it's discontinued. We'll just have to wait and see. |
Amazing post :)
