shipped numbers in the end are sales numbers and it's the only real official world wide numbers we can 100%ly rely on, which is why announcing shipment numbers is standard for (almost?) all producing industries

btw the people who care the most about shipments are investors/share holders

According to VG Chartz No the difference is almost 4M, How come it's showing less with official No, anyway I say that Microsoft made a good opponent & held on tight to give Sony a real competition, Now though it seams that what I predicted will happen at long last (It took longer than I predicted) and PS3 will overtake 360 and become No 2 this generation, still Americas favor 360 and that will prove vital & Sony will have to make extra efforts there but it will not become No 2 there by all means that belongs to Microsoft . 

they are not sold to consumers vgchartz are. Seriously it has been said all the way through this thread. As we learn from both sides over many journeys shipped does not equal sold to consumers. It is just sold to retail vendors

and MOST people who visit this site care about sold to consumers... hence the name of the site... why is this such an issue?

the issue is discrediting shipped numbers and the people that are interested in them, because they don't fit one's agenda

the numbers on this site are good approximations of sales to customers (considering it's a free service), but the only "real" numbers we ever get is shipped numbers

Yes but as Journey to the west has shown. Shipping wont guarantee sales and this is why the gap isnt necessarily 2.88 million. Some people are stuck at this point

True, but who cares if there are 10 million console sitting on shelves when the console is way past its prime time (PS2 anyone?).

vgc already admits they have that wrong. They dont know how to correct it. Where would they put the numbers. Most players they think would be wrong so it would probably never be adjusted correctly.

Are you mad? If retailers can't sell the product they have the right for refunds. Otherwise how do you think Gamestop and other stores would stay in bussnies when they cant sell all the consoles or if consoles are dropped in price? Sell at a loss? Give out consoles? No they send them back or get some money back from the supplier. Else, no company could stay in bussnies. They don't get every cent back of course or the suppliers wouldn't stay in bussnies since overshipping will happen. But to think that a shipped console = sold is really oversimplifying things since then most retailers would understock, else they would be at a chance for a loss.

It's an "issue" because VGChartz numbers need to be taken with a grain of salt due to potential inaccuracies and constant adjustments.  When console manufactures report official numbers, it's ANYONE'S guess what are the "sold to consumers" numbers.  Without going door to door, all methodology is imperfect.  So let the console makers report their numbers, and let the rest of the world make their own estimates, including VGChartz which ISN'T perfect.