UBS analyst Ben Schachter has issued his post-NPD sales report. He noted that although December got off to a slow start, its final two weeks were very strong and made up for it. Also, while there has been talk of softness in the music game category, Schachter said that "the music genre, led by Guitar Hero, significantly reaccelerated y/y growth in December vs. November – driven by higher ASP's of the full band kits," adding that "concerns around Guitar Hero were overblown."

Schachter was particularly disappointed by Sony. While the PS3's unit sales were up sequentially from November (to be expected), they were down 10 percent year-over-year. Microsoft's Xbox 360 managed to double the sales of the PS3, and Schachter said Sony's PS3 performance highlights "our growing fears about the viability of third-party support for the platform."

He added, "As for Sony, holiday 2008 may go down as a case study on how to hurt a brand. Despite solid ratings for its key first-party software (Resistance 2 and LittleBigPlanet), they were not good enough for consumers to look past the high price point on the hardware."

http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/news/ps3-in-holiday-08-a-case-study-on-how-to-hurt-a-brand-ndash-ubs/?biz=1

what's UBS?

Hes right about the brand being hurt, but its doubtful that PS3 3rd party support will dry up.

people just love to ignore the bad economy...coupled with much lower 360 price point coupled with PS360 consoles for the same market

as for 3rd party viability

we have been through this discussion

3rd party games for the 360 won't be viable without the Ps3 also present

They are a bank.  I am not sure if they are just commercial or also deal with consumer loans.  I believe they come out of Europe.  Google UBS and bank for more information.

Considering how big the videogame business is, it now draws attentions of suites, that pontificate on it, the way they do other industries.  End result is things they will say, from a business perspective, will annoy the videogame hobbyist and fanboy, both from speaking from a financial angle the videogame fan doesn't understand or doesn't want to hear, but also the fact the suites can miss some fundamentals going on.

From wikipedia:

UBS AG (NYSE: UBS; SWX: UBSN; TYO: 8657) is a diversified global financial services company, with its main headquarters in Basel & Zürich, Switzerland. It is the world's largest manager of private wealth assets, "the world's biggest manager of other people's money"^[1] and is also the second-largest bank in Europe, by both market capitalisation and profitability. UBS has a major presence in the U.S., with its American headquarters located in New York City's Manhattan borough (Investment Banking); Weehawken, New Jersey (Private Wealth); and Stamford, Connecticut (Capital Markets). UBS's retail offices are located throughout the United States, and in over 50 other countries. UBS is an abbreviation, which originated from a predecessor firm, the Union Bank of Switzerland, however UBS ceased to be considered a representational abbreviation after its 1998 merger with Swiss Bank Corporation.^[2]

As you can see, it isn't exactly CNN Money or something like that.

Then why are Wii and 360 doing fine during this bad economy? Maybe that's why the author left it out is because the nintendo and MS aren't having problems moving their console and games during this bad economy.

Oh for christ sake, some people and their bias. Enough!

ymeaga1n

no wonder....360 is the cheapest console

wii ales = supply

PS3 = costliest console ever released which is still quit costly

now which one would the economy affect THATS RIGHT the wii60!!!

This isn't summer camp, everybody doesn't get a pat on the back and a "good job" for trying. The reasons the PS3 are getting it's ass handed to it are irrelevant. Analysts and investors don't care that the PS3 is doing ok for itself if you factor in all of the things Sony did wrong, and bad circumstances. If it's getting outsold 2-1 by it's competitor and more than 2-1 by it's half competitor then nobody is going to say "good job for hangin' in there", it's business not the boy scouts.