Microsoft: PS3 Likely Outsold 360 in Feb.

[Dacalo]

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Ahead of February US NPD sales figures, Microsoft has told Next-Gen that it expects the PlayStation 3 to have outsold Xbox 360 last month, but calls the win a "hollow victory."

At least one analyst has said that Microsoft is over its supply issues with Xbox 360, saying there is now an ample supply of consoles at retailers. But Microsoft insists that the Xbox 360 was still supply constrained in February, resulting in PS3 beating Xbox 360 in US hardware sales for the second month in a row.

?Our expectation is that because of our shortages at retail during February, we will sell less than PS3,? Xbox 360 group product manager Aaron Greenberg told Next-Gen. ?That?s not a surprise to us. I don?t know what Sony?s reaction will be to that, but it will definitely be a bit of a hollow victory. The competition sure didn?t show up [in February].?

Nintendo's Wii continues to see supply issues, as the $250 console shows little sign of letting up. In January, Wii sold 274,000 units, PS3 sold 269,000 and Xbox 360 sold 230,000, according to NPD Group. Microsoft has said it sold more Xbox 360s during holiday 2007 than it anticipated.

?You can go to any given store and happen to find some consoles there, but we can tell you that from working with all of our retailers and being able to actually know our inventory by store across the country that we are still, unfortunately, experiencing shortages.?

Greenberg says that when Xbox 360 has been in stock, Microsoft?s console has outsold PS3 two-to-one ?every single month.?

He expects supply to be back in order before the huge launch of Rockstar?s Grand Theft Auto IV on April 29, making clear the importance of the title as a console mover.

NPD Group is slated to release its monthly US sales data Thursday.

Seems like MS is doing some damage control before the numbers are released later today. That would make two months in a row PS3 has outsold Xbox 360.

What's this supply issue they are mentioning? I have seen 360s available everywhere I have been to. Are they pulling a Jack Tretton?

Update:

Thank you Queasy for the figures:

Hardware Numbers for February:

* Nintendo DS - 587,600
* Wii - 432,000
* PlayStation 2 - 351,800
* PlayStation 3 - 280,800
* Xbox 360 - 254,600
* PSP - 243,000

Software Numbers for February:

1. 360 CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE*: 296.2K
2. 360 DEVIL MAY CRY 4*: 295.2K
3. WII PLAY W/ REMOTE: 289.7K
4. PS3 DEVIL MAY CRY 4*: 233.5K
5. WII GUITAR HERO III: LEGENDS OF ROCK*: 222.9K
6. NDS MARIO AND SONIC: OLYMPIC GAMES: 205.6K
7. 360 LOST ODYSSEY: 203.6K
8. 360 TUROK: 197.7K
9. PS2 GUITAR HERO III: LEGENDS OF ROCK*: 183.8K
10. 360 ROCK BAND: 161.8K

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: Dacalo
What's this supply issue they are mentioning? I have seen 360s available everywhere I have been to. Are they pulling a Jack Tretton?

There were definitely issues in January with the Pro and Elite versions. February still had issues as I saw them occasionally but not as frequently as you would expect. I've been seeing them in stores even more frequently this month but still not in large quantities. I was in Target the other day and they had only one Elite for example while the Wal-Mart and Fry's I was at over the weekend only had a couple of Pros.

I think they are still having spotty supply issues. Which, is completely bizarre to me. I would have thought they'd have the production issues hammered out by now.

 

[Xavier434]

Being that Blu-Ray has won, I don't feel that these monthly results even matter anymore. That was the only thing which will really have an impact on the consumer side of the entertainment industry. Both consoles are selling well, are here to stay, and will be releasing next gen systems in the future which will continue to include lots of exclusive titles on both ends. Meaning, if you really want to be able to play most of the great games, you will still need to buy both systems. At most, the future sales might convince a couple gaming companies to switch who they are going to release exclusive titles for assuming their contracts let them.

 

[mugs]

PS3 is starting to move up. Last 3 or 4 people who asked for advice on buying a console here ended up picking the PS3. A common theme seems to be that the reliability issues are really hurting the 360. It held me back for over a year.

 

[Slew Foot]

The HD/Bluray thing put me over into the PS3 camp. Ill probably be picking one of them up this year to complement my Wii.

 

[Xavier434]

Originally posted by: Slew Foot
The HD/Bluray thing put me over into the PS3 camp. Ill probably be picking one of them up this year to complement my Wii.

Ya I will most likely be getting one this year too. I want to complete the trifecta and I just know there will be at least a couple games that I will want to play which will not be on the 360. FF XIII being one of them. Then of course there is the blu-ray.

 

[Dari]

Originally posted by: mugs
PS3 is starting to move up. Last 3 or 4 people who asked for advice on buying a console here ended up picking the PS3. A common theme seems to be that the reliability issues are really hurting the 360. It held me back for over a year.

Yep, I really wanted to get a 360 but I really don't want to deal with an unreliable product. I'm seriously looking at picking up a PS3 in the near future. Sony is making all the right moves.

 

[BladeVenom]

Originally posted by: Xavier434

Originally posted by: Slew Foot
The HD/Bluray thing put me over into the PS3 camp. Ill probably be picking one of them up this year to complement my Wii.

Ya I will most likely be getting one this year too. I want to complete the trifecta and I just know there will be at least a couple games that I will want to play which will not be on the 360. FF XIII being one of them. Then of course there is the blu-ray.

The PS3 has beat the 360 every week since Christmas in worldwide sales. Link
The PS3 has 3 big advantages:
A high definition disc format (now that they won the format war, it's a much stronger advantage)
Reliability
Hard drive in every model

 

[Xavier434]

Originally posted by: BladeVenom

Originally posted by: Xavier434

Originally posted by: Slew Foot
The HD/Bluray thing put me over into the PS3 camp. Ill probably be picking one of them up this year to complement my Wii.

Ya I will most likely be getting one this year too. I want to complete the trifecta and I just know there will be at least a couple games that I will want to play which will not be on the 360. FF XIII being one of them. Then of course there is the blu-ray.

The PS3 has beat the 360 every week since Christmas. Link
The PS3 has 3 big advantages:
A high definition disc format (now that they won the format war, it's a much stronger advantage)
Reliability
Hard drive in every model

Ok...but does any of that even matter at this point? How will any of that have a direct effect on the consumer now that Blu-ray has won? That is the point I was trying to make earlier.

The thing is that there really is no more "advantage". People have purchased their consoles for the most part. The real question now is whether or not the PS3 owners will purchase a 360 and if the 360 owners will purchase a PS3. From the consumer stand point, it doesn't matter which one will sell more now. All that matters at this point is whether or not the console they own will have the games they want to play. Blu-ray is great, but the prices of the stand alone players will be going down once Sony has milked the market since the war has ended. Expect price drops around christmas.

 

[pennylane]

I think the PS3 is gaining ground because... it's reliable, $400 price tag, good games are starting to come out, and maybe because blu-ray won the war. I'm pretty sure the days of the 360 outselling it 2:1 are gone.

 

[BladeVenom]

I thought Blu-ray was important to you. It's what you ended your post with.

I think it's important since now consumers can buy it as a high definition movie player without having to worry about buying into an obsolete format.

 

[Xavier434]

Originally posted by: BladeVenom
I thought Blu-ray was important to you. It's what you ended your post with.

I think it's important since now consumers can buy it as a high definition movie player without having to worry about buying into an obsolete format.

It is, but it is not a deal breaker for me. The main reason I will be buying a PS3 is for the future games. Otherwise, I would be getting a stand alone blu-ray player from Sony when the prices drop. I feel many consumers feel the same way. Likewise, many will also purchase the PS3 now.

However, in all cases one thing will remain constant now that Blu-ray has won. That is, these monthly figures no longer impact the consumer. We know what we are buying now. We know what it will provide for us in regards to attachment. We know most of the games which we will want each console for in the future. We were not as sure about much of this before blu-ray won especially when it comes to attachment. The only thing we don't know is whether or not the 360 will release a Blu-ray player, but that doesn't matter much because we can just as easily buy a stand alone player instead of the PS3 or a future release for the 360. Getting the PS3 means we can play the exclusive titles on that system. Therefore, it is now all about the games. The figures no longer make a difference when it comes to predicting which system will be more valuable.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: BladeVenom
I thought Blu-ray was important to you. It's what you ended your post with.

I think it's important since now consumers can buy it as a high definition movie player without having to worry about buying into an obsolete format.

Actually, I'd say it is the brand name. MS and the 360 can't get any traction in Japan. Europe is in play but still favors the Playstation brand over the Xbox brand. Europe just kind of seems like they are waiting for something to happen though. MS just did a price drop though and Sony announced a GT5 Prologue bundle. How that will spur sales remains to be seen.

The bizarre supply issues after Christmas for the 360 didn't help though. It's like they ramped up production for Christmas and built large inventories only to be shocked when they exceeded their sales estimates. Instead of keeping production ramped up, they turned it down at some point and responded way to late to get the inventory levels back up.

 

[Inspector Jihad]

lol maybe now there will be some games for the ps3 lolololz

p.s. where the fuck has randay been? i havne't seen him in a while.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Originally posted by: Xavier434

Originally posted by: BladeVenom

Originally posted by: Xavier434

Originally posted by: Slew Foot
The HD/Bluray thing put me over into the PS3 camp. Ill probably be picking one of them up this year to complement my Wii.

Ya I will most likely be getting one this year too. I want to complete the trifecta and I just know there will be at least a couple games that I will want to play which will not be on the 360. FF XIII being one of them. Then of course there is the blu-ray.

The PS3 has beat the 360 every week since Christmas. Link
The PS3 has 3 big advantages:
A high definition disc format (now that they won the format war, it's a much stronger advantage)
Reliability
Hard drive in every model

Ok...but does any of that even matter at this point? How will any of that have a direct effect on the consumer now that Blu-ray has won? That is the point I was trying to make earlier.

The thing is that there really is no more "advantage". People have purchased their consoles for the most part. The real question now is whether or not the PS3 owners will purchase a 360 and if the 360 owners will purchase a PS3. From the consumer stand point, it doesn't matter which one will sell more now. All that matters at this point is whether or not the console they own will have the games they want to play. Blu-ray is great, but the prices of the stand alone players will be going down once Sony has milked the market since the war has ended. Expect price drops around christmas.

Actually, Blu Ray is making people buy the PS3. Its $400, it has a perfectly good Blu Ray player, and it can play games. What more could they want?

 

[bl4ckfl4g]

My brother has been trying to get a 360 pro since christmas and he can't find one and I can't find one. I talked to best buy and the store near me hasn't received a shipment since Dec.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Originally posted by: bl4ckfl4g
My brother has been trying to get a 360 pro since christmas and he can't find one and I can't find one. I talked to best buy and the store near me hasn't received a shipment since Dec.

Thats weird. In the best buy in front of my house. They have a BLOCK of Xbox elites and pros thats been sitting there. Its 10 consoles Long, 3 consoles high, and 3 consoles wide.

Anyway, Im really surprised PS3 sold that much. Usually, the Wii outsold everything by a 2 to 1 margin, but now its alot closer

 

[oznerol]

Originally posted by: tenshodo13

Originally posted by: bl4ckfl4g
My brother has been trying to get a 360 pro since christmas and he can't find one and I can't find one. I talked to best buy and the store near me hasn't received a shipment since Dec.

Thats weird. In the best buy in front of my house. They have a BLOCK of Xbox elites and pros thats been sitting there. Its 10 consoles Long, 3 consoles high, and 3 consoles wide

The Best Buy by me is made out of 360s.

When they're closed they all blink with 3 red lights.

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad
lol maybe now there will be some games for the ps3 lolololz

p.s. where the fuck has randay been? i havne't seen him in a while.

hardware store. ran out of nails.

+

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: BladeVenom

Originally posted by: Xavier434

Originally posted by: Slew Foot
The HD/Bluray thing put me over into the PS3 camp. Ill probably be picking one of them up this year to complement my Wii.

Ya I will most likely be getting one this year too. I want to complete the trifecta and I just know there will be at least a couple games that I will want to play which will not be on the 360. FF XIII being one of them. Then of course there is the blu-ray.

The PS3 has beat the 360 every week since Christmas in worldwide sales. Link
The PS3 has 3 big advantages:
A high definition disc format (now that they won the format war, it's a much stronger advantage)
Reliability
Hard drive in every model

Blu-Ray is a big factor, because anyone who was going to buy a Blu-Ray drive might as well get a PS3 for the free added functionality. Reliability is a big factor. I don't think the hard drive in every model is a big factor. The only 360 model that doesn't have a hard drive is $120 cheaper than a PS3, and the hard drive is only $100. Or you could obviously just get the "Pro" for an extra $70, which is still $50 cheaper than PS3.

One of my coworkers saw my PS3 box in my office the other day from when I was removing the UPC for the 5 free Blu-ray discs. He's not much of a gamer, but he said he was thinking about buying one since it's Blu-ray player too. He wasn't sure that he'd play games enough to justify $60 apiece, but I mentioned the PSN games that would probably be perfect for someone like him - pick up and play fun, cheap, and not something that you have to devote a ton of time to finishing.

 

[mrSHEiK124]

Originally posted by: ducci

Originally posted by: tenshodo13

Originally posted by: bl4ckfl4g
My brother has been trying to get a 360 pro since christmas and he can't find one and I can't find one. I talked to best buy and the store near me hasn't received a shipment since Dec.

Thats weird. In the best buy in front of my house. They have a BLOCK of Xbox elites and pros thats been sitting there. Its 10 consoles Long, 3 consoles high, and 3 consoles wide

The Best Buy by me is made out of 360s.

When they're closed they all blink with 3 red lights.

I got a hilarious mental image of a bunch of RRoD XBOXes doing this.

 

[Dacalo]

Originally posted by: bl4ckfl4g
My brother has been trying to get a 360 pro since christmas and he can't find one and I can't find one. I talked to best buy and the store near me hasn't received a shipment since Dec.

If he is still looking, Amazon has them in stock, as well as other e-tailers.

 

[tfinch2]

I *sorta* believe MS because there were stock issues at all of the stores I frequent for all things Xbox after Christmas.

 

[Schadenfroh]

PS3 Likely Outsold 360 in Feb

Good, maybe my PS3 will get some better games as the market share increases. Still seems to be a bit lacking in the interactive dialog / character / story driven RPG department (my favorite genre(s)).

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh

PS3 Likely Outsold 360 in Feb

Good, maybe my PS3 will get some better games as the market share increases. Still seems to be a bit lacking in the interactive dialog / character / story driven RPG department (my favorite genre(s)).

The games have been in development and are going to come out throughout the rest of this year, with the Fall being a particularly crazy season if everything holds up as planned.

It sounds quite likely we'll be treated to at least Final Fantasy XIII by the end of the year, no clue about the other projects in the FFXIII universe. Square has made previous hints as to releasing the game itself this year, and recently they said they are interested in moving the company to a simultaneous release type of company, but no mention specifically of FFXIII. Quite likely though.

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