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whiteknight101 on 02 October 2014
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ioi said:
whiteknight101 said:

If Sony, or Microsoft, or Nintendo claim they "sold through X million units through to consumers", and that claim is not true, then they are lying to shareholders. Lying to shareholders about the performance of a company is a crime.

See: https://www.google.se/search?q=sec+lying+to+shareholders

So, disregarding what the actual Vgchartz algorithm looks like, it seems like official claims by Sony, MS and Nintendo of units sold-through, ought to be some of the most reliable sales information available out there?


If a company releases a quarterly financial report then the data in there (such as number of units shipped) must meet certain legal guidelines or as you rightly say they could get into trouble.

This is different to a press-facing statment where a company may announce an estimated sell-through figure. Firstly, the figure will be an estimate and will have an in-built margin of error depending on how it is arrived at. Secondly, a company will want to announce an impressive figure at a big press event so may round up to the nearest round unit as it looks better in headlines. They will then cover themselves with an asterisk at the botton of the press release stating that the number is an internal estimate.

Short version - there is a difference between an official financial statement aimed at shareholders and a press statement aimed at news websites.

Ok, but you're saying here that an official statement by either MS Sony or Nintendo about sell-through can be expected to be the best figure they have, offered in good faith. If that holds true, and only if that holds true, they're not breaking any laws. If they offer inexact numbers where they have any reason whatsoever to believe they performed worse than what they claimed, then that is in fact a punishable offence. Any claims of sold number of units is easily accessible to shareholders, and liable to affect the stock price, and thus any willful lie a punishable offence.

Agreed?

This is the case for both a quarterly financial report AND for when i.e. Sony opts to make an official statement that "10 million units of PS4 were sold through to consumers"?

Agreed?

So, then, acknowledging this, is there any reason whatsoever to consider e.g. mediacreate numbers to be more reliable indata for the Vgchartz algorithm than official MS/Sony/Nintendo sales numbers? Do you feel that mediacreate have access to more exact information about sell through in Japan than Sony does?