==> 1/ shortages are for NA, not PAL or Japan

2/ yes, u get a free warranty with your Xbox360

I think the real test will come next week. I remember after the ps3 price cut in the U.S. which fell towards the end of the week with the vgcharts when there wasnt that big of a increase people said wait till we next week and have a weeks worth of price drop(same in eu to). Now the same thing is happening with the 360 people are all over it. 2days 40% increase not bad I say, now after a full week we see if those numbers go up:)

I think many of my fellow posters are confused Microsoft isn't trying to take a lead they are trying to maintain a lead, and more specifically expand their lead. The difference in the other regions is 1,500,000. The difference between console sales last week was 20,000 units. This Microsoft is doomed gibberish is most definitely premature. You cannot reverse the positions to serve your purposes. Were the sales to remain stagnant at last weeks level Sony would still be a year and a half behind.

Have no illusions about this situation Sony is still the third place challenger. Sony is not laying anything remotely close to a beat down on anyone. Nintendo however is laying a beat down on Sony. With a 2,650,000 unit lead as we speak, and is outselling the PS3. Nintendo has truncated both Microsoft's and Sony's potential exploitable market. Now Microsoft has made their console substantially cheaper. They have a larger market to exploit, and they still have a lead over Sony in their hip pocket.

I think we often forget there is a little console on the market by the name of PS2. This console still has a lot to teach us, and the lesson is this. Good enough and cheap enough are very important to consumers. They are part of the decision making process. The machine is outdated in every sense of the word. Yet it is still hanging in with the new kids on the block.

Honestly this isn't last years PS3 price drop fiasco. There was a plethora of consumers that did want the machine, but the price had curbed their enthusiasm. They wanted it, but wouldn't pay that much to have it. So they were biding their time for a price cut which was predicted, leaked, and obviously necessary. The price on the 360 hasn't hindered purchases to quite that extent. The PS3 had built up a log jam or anxious consumers. That is part of why the console had such extreme spikes. The 360 is attracting an undetermined market, or convincing mild enthusiasts.

A forty percent increase on the first week is actually a very nice increase. That would have been the increase Sony would have seen last year had its consoles price not discouraged consumers from buying in when they initially had wanted to. Microsoft seems to have been very effective with positioning. They are exiting a price plateau before they exhaust it, and entering newer plateaus at the right points.

The real questions are this. What effect did predicted price drops, and leaked information effect the previous weeks 360 sales. Will the cheaper 360 drive sales away from the PS3 or even the Wii. Will this price cut be as effective as Microsoft's previous price cut. How effective will Grand Theft Auto and this new price be for Microsoft.

Also for those that do not realize Easter is this Sunday. The strange date is having unanticipated consequences on the market. This year it really is a creeper holiday. So this upcoming weeks sales should be oddly spectacular. I think the charts are going to be insane next week as the unwary get cold cocked by the holiday sneaking up on them. What does anyone else think about this. Will the early arrival hurt sales, or drive guilt based spending.

Out of curiosity are Europeans more or less prone to buy big ticket items for the holiday. Where I live we usually didn't have major presents for Easter. Just a basket of candy a couple little toys, and a huge meal. I love Easter I am going to make a glutton of myself on Sunday. We are having ham. I really do love ham.

This is somewhat of a disaster .

360 sales went up 170% when the last price drop ,a price drop that was smaller (50 euros vs 80 ) .

PS3 sales went up 178% when the PS3 40Gb was released (a 100 euros price cut but with less functionality ) .

This 40% is only for the days it has been efective so week to week sales must have risen some 25-28% .

The price drop has been announced and is know for two weeks now .

Last week data to wich this is comparing was low because people knew about the price cut .

The PS3 without price cut has seen a 6% increase too and the PS2 has beaten again the 360 .

The rest of Europe is more indiferent to the 360 so the rise in sales may be even smaller .


All in all ,a positive news but that under the hood a disaster and the realizing that the 360 is doomed in Europe .

Since when is 40% of 17k 10k?

I dunno what your problem is, i am AGREEING with you.  I said they had no advertising and to wait until next week.  Did you not say in this topic that MS had no advertising? Yes you did.  So what is the problem?

Interesting read, although I have a different view on some of your points. 

I could be wrong but I don't expect many people to rush out at Easter and buy a games console (that would be Christmas) - so in Europe I don't expect to see any crazy sales.  If anything Easter might hurt sales as a lot of people head away for the weekend and drag the kids with them.  Also, without a major game dropping (there isn't one is there or have I missed something?) I see little to drive a big spike.

As for 360 I personally don't judge it as having a true lead on PS3 at all.  It just released first... but time adjusted they're tracking the same.  From retail / game sales point of view this is how items of merchandise are normally viewed.  You don't say hey, that Panasonic sells way better than that Samsung if it released a year earlier and time adjusted their sales are equal - you normally decide they have same sales profile and expect the Samsung to track the Panasonic.  The only console with a true lead this generation at the moment is the Wii as from the get go it has outperformed PS3 and 360.  The test of this is to look at their sales assuming they all launched at same time - PS3 and 360 lines are right in line with Wii shooting up away from both like a rocket.

That's why so many analysts etc. are sounding negative about the 360 - the numbers show it has no 'true' lead over PS3 simply an earlier release - i.e. assuming nothing changes and they both have a 6 year lifespan (meaning PS3 gains extra year of sales at end over 360) their lifetime sales would be essentially equal.

The other reason you see so much negative press for 360 in Others is that its additional lifetime sales have not put so much distance between it and PS3 as they have in US.  Using this sites numbers in US PS3 has roughly 50% of sales units 360 has, in Others it already has 80% of sales units of 360 (and remember the PS3 released later in Others so that ratio is even more daming as it shows the PS3 has made up the time lead pretty smartly in Others vs US).

I believe that no matter what price the 360 is parents wanting something like the Wii aren't going to go "hey, let's get this cheaper console - there's no Mario, etc. but I'm sure the kids will be fine playing Gears of War and Bioshock".  The PS3 and 360 are fighting for roughly the same demographic right now although the PS3 has some chance of getting more general gamers on brand and as its library builds - 360 I believe is still seen squarely as console for hardcore FPS / online crowd despite the fact it has a varied library of games and has little chance of taking any sales from Wii whether its cheaper or not.  In fact, as you pointed out, the PS2 is the real alternative to the Wii at this point, with the largest, most diverse library of all and the lowest price point plus a solid brand for casual gamers (don't get me wrong, the PS2 is most certainly sunsetting, but its doing so slowly, and if anything is taking some sales from Wii its the tail end PS2 sales I suspect).

==> Well said,

Microsoft damage control shooted down ...

I have a feeling people are going to be surprised at how much better the system is selling in Germany now.

Germany is not an important game *console* market in Europe. It's much smaller than Uk, France and Spain, for instance.