On shelves doesn't necessarily mean ON STORE SHELVES either. There are usually a couple cases of them in each retailers backroom, as well as how ever many there are in the distribution centers.

So 3 million sounds about right.

I dunno where you live, and frankly I don't much care, but, regarding Sony shipped to warehouse versus shipped to retailers, wtf cares? The 120GB PS3 Slim is currently sold out at Best Buys, Targets, Walmarts, Amazon. Amazon is just now projecting a 2 to 5 week wait for one. Walmart.com has some but is now forcing you to buy it as part of a bundle, or you don't get one. There are none in the warehouse or at the retailer.

Yeah, I have a PS3. As for 360, I have two 360's. One is broken. Duh, what else is new? Doesn't mean crap because it doesn't mean I buy any games for it. I have games for them, yet I bought none. Yeah, it's a riddle. Does that make it overtracked? What's supposed to be the purpose of the sales numbers?

I have a Wii too. Wow.

Uh, guys, he has a point here. 3 million in the retail channel is very high. I am not saying its impossible, but it warrants a comment from ioi. Having 1.5 million waiting to be sold is about right normally, and reflects what ioi has previously stated as what is to be expected from a console. Its also on the high end of that as well.

I am shocked and amazed at what this means. This thread makes sense, and might even be right. Dear gods what has the world come to.

Edit: It should be mentioned that the thread title is overly atagonistic, and the OP is borderline flaming people in here. Just because you have a point doesn't mean you should be mean about it. Conversly, his harsh posting style does not invalidate his point.

No, it doesn't. Not even close. Typically you expect 1-1.5 million for a console. This is from ioi. 3 million is strangely high.

Congratulations!   I haven't logged into VGChartz in over 6 months.  I had to respond to this.  It happened last holiday season.  Wii was overtracked by over 1M.   That's when I lost all credibility for the site.  I visit now and again for fun... but seriously how can you hold any respect for a website that is wrong by over a million??   And that guy called ioi actually said "  I stand by our numbers." after the NPD showed they were 1M off.  Hillarious.  I should start my own tracking website.  Where I just use Famitsu and MC for Japan and guess the rest.  I like that.  Probably will be closer than VGChartz...

P.S.  Has VG chartz ever released info for Japan b4 Famitsu??  Just wondering...

>___<!!!!!!!!!!!! ... *sigh.. deep breath* It's 2mil, not 3mil. When MS released its statement, they had all of the Holiday data, VGC is still missing a week from two regions. He is exaggerating when he says 3mil.

Not sure why you guys even care so much. Are you all developers or something? (Me, I just come here to get quick news, dug up by all you fanboys, about all the different consoles. Thanks for doing all the legwork.) Perfectly logical explanations could be: end of year channel stuffing to make projection numbers (like Microsoft's never done that before...http://www.informationarbitrage.com/2007/04/microsoft_phili.html ) or overestimation of holiday consumer demand by retailers. The Xbox is sold out nowhere.

No point trying to convince people in here, the majority disagreeing with the fact that the 360 could be undertracked are more concerned that the numbers fit their agenda than actual accurate numbers for the site.  That being said the ones who are genuinely defending the sites reputation from some of the more insulting remarks I applaud.  I think the 360 could be overtracked by around 500,000 consoles personally but time will tell and adjustments will be made (quickly followed by a huge number of whining threads for weeks). 

Quote ate your post for some reason I am too lazy to figure out. Anways, we have data up to the 26th. I highly doubt that there was an abundance of large shipments just after the holidays. Call me crazy, but I expect slower shipments in the slow time of the year. Still we have a 2.3 million defecit here, and maybe another 400k to explain it away? Still pretty high. He might not be right, but he has a point. I would really like a comment from the numbers guys on this one. It is warranted.

o_O;;; .... 

He is complaining about the fact that MS said they had 39mil 360's around the world, while VGC has it at 36.77 mil. First of all, VGC tracks sales, not shipment, so this number bound to be lower than what MS stated. Also, we have a weeks data missing! That's probably at least 330k there. This leaves 2mil 360's on shelves. Could it be undertracked? Maybe by 100k or 200k I guess. IMO what happened was that MS stuffed the channel a bit much. Also, I have no idea why you are even speaking about shipments when that is no the point here. January 2nd is still included in Holiday sales, since, you know, it's the week after freakin' Christmas. Many deals go on the day after Christmas.