I apologize if someone else has made a thread addressing this, but I could not find one in the obvious places. However being that this is a site dedicated to sales trend I noticed something rather interesting in the others chart this week. Since the PS3 launched earlier this year it has always had stronger sales then the Xbox 360. However according to last weeks chart that unended string has been broken. The Xbox 360 finally took the  lead  over the PS3 with roughly four thousand more units sold. Granted the margin between the two has never been large. The only major difference was in the month following the launch. To me that is a major statistic. Since the trend had persisted for roughly five months. Obviously the sales switch was brought on by the price reduction.

 I am curious what everyone thinks of this development, and more specifically what everyone predicts the outcome will be over the coarse of the next four months. Do you expect Sony to retake the lead, or do you expect Microsoft to maintain the lead. Could we be looking at a brawl in Europe where we see the two competitors switching positions. Would you expect the margins to be large or small. The margins have been diminutive up until this point. Obviously a shift has taken place in Europe. Interestingly not only is the 360 beating the PS3, but the PS2 as well. 

Please keep the conversation civil, and if you cannot even put together a paragraph with a coherent thought. Then please do not post, and please no fanboy rants. I would love to read some interesting thoughts and number work. Rather then this console will rule once X game gets on the market. I really want to discuss the trend. 

I'm confused. Are you saying that when you align the launches the PS3 has had stronger sales than the XB360 (which actually isn't the case) or that the PS3 has had stronger sales than the XB360 since the PS3's launch?

If you are saying that when you align their launches the PS3 has had stronger sales then IIRC that isn't true. They have fluctuated (a short time in which the PS3 had more units sold, a short time when the 360 had more units sold) but have thus far remained practically equal. Checking the chart, there was a boost in 360 sales that the PS3 is approaching (when launches are aligned on a chart) and I think that the next few months will be the true test of the PS3's sales performance especially considering that the holiday season is coming. If the PS3 dips and doesn't keep pace with the 360 in those aligned months then I fear the SONY will have to do much more than they have done so far to get back in this race. Quite frankly I am still puzzled over their latest clearance pricing move. IMO they should have left the 60 GB HD, taken out the Emotion Engine chip like they wanted, and sold the system at the reduced price. But alas that is not the case.

If you are saying that the PS3 has outsold the 360 in those months (after the 360 was out for so long) then it seems kind of obvious to me that that would be the case, but if the 360 overtakes the PS3 on current sales for much longer then I fear that the PS3 will be further marginalized.

Edit: Fixed grammar

I don't think this is a huge deal or the beginning of a new trend. Let's give it some time before we claim it's the beginning of a new trend.

Microsoft will have bumpy holiday sales amidst fallout from hardware failures.
Sony will refuse to drop their price until it's too late to rake in cash for the holidays.
The Wii will sell like hotcakes as the release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl draws near.

I for one am looking forward to next year more than this one.

I was referring merely to the sales for the last five months, and not aligning the launches, and the new trend would be in the sense that the old trend would be defunct according to the chart. The old trend being that the PS3 would outsell the Xbox 360 every week. Which is obviously no longer the case given the numbers on last weeks chart.

The question is what trend do you expect to persist beyond this point in time. For example do you think the 360 will continue to have greater sales then the PS3, or do you perceive last week as merely a spike due to a price cut. Do you expect the PS3 to regain that position, or perhaps do you see the race as a back and forth situation. Where the consoles switch places.

The Wii is not part of this discussion unless you feel it is part of what is going to determine which other console can or will hold the second place position. The trend is just not fixed anymore so it is a valid question. Yes it might be early, but thats why we call it guessing or predicting. Make a guess, prediction, or have a theory then share by all means.

The Wii will always be a part of the discussion so long as it's a competitor. To talk sales and not factor in all of the available choices doesn't make sense. There isn't even a doubt that its low price point combined with user friendly features has put a serious dent in the sales from Sony and Microsoft and its resonable to expect that it will continue to do so for atleast another holiday season.

I expect this to only of occurered because of the price because now the X360Core is the same price as a Wii here in the UK at £180($362 for NA people)(€266 for the of EU) so that will have pushed sales up a bit.But i think this is just because of the price cut and the only other month it will overtake the PS3 will be when Halo3 releases but that might only be in the UK that that matters a great deal.Christmas i expect the Wii to Wiin and the PS3 to come 2nd in EU due to EU prefering Sony products to any other eletronics company and PS has a big name over here and i mean BIG.

So in other words your saying your reading comprehension is so poor, and your IQ so low that you felt the over powering need. To hijack a thread that was discussing the sales situation between Microsoft and Sony in the others region with your unbridled love of all things Nintendo. You decided in your infinite wisdom that for some reason any thread that does not revolve around the Wii must in fact be ruined with nonsensical gibberish.

What was I thinking the last four letters in your name should have clued me in Tard. I think you win the award for this thread. I proclaim you the alpha troll for this thread.

@AntiFanTard
Since Smash Bros. isn't an available choice, that one doesn't even make sense. And quite honestly, all your other comments where shallow at best.

@Dodece:
The fight between the 360 and the PS3 in Europe is interesting indeed. I think it's the deciding factor over which ends the generation ahead (worldwide, that is). But the Wii is relevant for this fight. Sony proved with previous Playstations that it is possible to sell a hell lot of consoles in Others, and its brand is pretty powerful around here. If the Wii becomes dominant here (and I mean really well above 50% market share dominant), that will be at the entire expense of the Playstation brand. The DS is certainly doing that (but that's coming from a long line of Nintendo portables), can the Wii?

I actually think the brand hit for MS due to the manufacturing problems was more severe in the UK/EU than it was in any other region, and that stunted the platform's growth. Most people I've talked to that were gamers knew there was problems with the machine (it was reported on the news more than once where I used to live) and it hacked people off that the service took so long for repairs. A lot of that has blown over with the warranty info and the own-up by MS.

I think Oct. and Nov. will be the most telling months for the 360 in the EU/Australia -- September will be an anomaly sales-wise due to Halo, but we should be able to determine whether there's a genuine upswing in sales if both Oct and Nov can continue to build on their momentum. August, too, will be interesting -- it's hard to say what effect Bioshock and the pricecut might have on consumer purchasing.

In terms of big 'Others' software draws, I don't think we'll see any until 2008. 'Huxley' will be fascinating to watch in asian countries, and 'Halo Wars' should do well in the EU.