Wait a second this can’t be right!

Everybody is saying that the PS3 is dead in Japan NOT America.

Well I was looking over ioi’s sales numbers (thanks ioi) like I find myself doing all the time. There it was staring me right in the face. PS3 sales were less than 10% market share last week in America compared to 12.43% in Japan.

Now I know that there are a lot more PS3’s sold in America vs. Japan because it is a bigger market and a lot better software sales also. But trending to capture new market share at below 10% rate in this business has always been considered a kiss of death.

Why don’t more people mention PS3 being dead in America? It is obviously selling at a better rate In Japan compared to its competition.

So here are the last 4 weeks sales for America and Japan to give you something to look at.

                                                America last 4 weeks (4/29/07-5/20/07)

Wii                               PS3                              360                                                                                                                      

                                                Japan last 4 weeks (4/29/07-5/20/07)          

People have focused on Japan mainly because it has been obvious for awhile that the PS3 is performing remarkably poorly there; the weekly sales numbers from 2 trusted sources in Japan meant that months ago people started seeing sales in the 10,000 range and realized the PS3 was in trouble.

In North America we are more dependant on NPD numbers which come out monthly; sales for the PS3 in March were bad, sale for the PS3 in April were awful and if (when) sales continue for the PS3 at this level in May people will start to talk about how it is a dead platform in North America.

HappySurriel when you compare the market share % of sales that PS3 has had since the beginning of the year. It will show that America has pretty much tracked Japan for the entire year.

What I think makes the difference is America is a lot bigger market. So when you hear the sales numbers they sound a lot better than Japans. But people dont consider the difference in the size of these two markets.

Its true, its due to size that people don't notice it in the Americas, but its true, PS3 is doing as bad or worse here in the Americas

Hardware wise, the PS3 is becoming much weaker, much quicker in the US. However, software wise, the PS3 is far far stronger in the US. The tier ratios in the US are nearing 3 per console, whereas in Japan it's barely at 1.1 per console.

The other reason is that in Japan the PS3 is only faceing one real competitor compared to America were it is facing two. You would automaticly expect a small market share in a market that has more compitition.

Part of it is also that there's Xbox 360 competition in the US. Japan's failure is worse, relatively, even if in absolute terms it isn't as bad, because there's only really one competitor there. If the market *should* be 48/48/4, with the smaller share going to Microsoft, a reality of 85/12/3 is much more devastating than a 33/33/33 market going 60/10/30. Keep in mind, both situations are bad, but when you take into account that PS3 *should* have most of the Japanese people who would normally buy a 360, Japan is much worse. Also, Japan has more reliable weekly numbers than the US at the moment, so you focus on the more concrete. Notice how nobody ever mentions which console is winning in Europe?

I will bite. Wii

And guess who is currently trending worse in this market?

PS3 is your answer. It is currently trending last in all three markets.

PS3 numbers are still dropping by a large number since launch. Bottom is a ways off.

Post launch weeks PS3 "others". Look at those numbers continue to drop.

Biting Wii is never acceptable, CJ. NEVER.

I think we can start a new prediction competition - when will Sony drop the PS3.