|
Shadow1980 said: That's shipment data, not sales data. The two are distinct and are rarely congruent. |
There's something I've wondered about for a while. I've been working on my own charts, and I've found that, at least when it comes to older consoles, shipment numbers are much easier to come across than actual sales numbers. I'm at the point where I'm almost ready to give up on trying to figure out global sales and just settle for charting shipments.
But it did get me thinking. Couldn't the shipment numbers themselves be used to estimate the likely number of sales? I realize it's not an exact science and there would be a margin of error, but don't the shipment figures tell us something about sales? I mean, what kind of sales threshold do manufacturers wait for before shipping more units? We must have a rough idea.
I realize it would be a different number depending on how fast they're selling, but there must be a minimum number of units they aim to have on the shelves at all times. This may not give us accurate week-to-week sales figures, but at the very least, couldn't shipment data (both the timing and the size) be used to estimate likely sales figures over the long term?
ColdFire - The man with no name.
