Sony sold 6.5m PS3s last autumn

By Oli Welsh Published 4 February, 2010

PSP and PS3 suffer, though.

Sony's financial results this morning have yielded some good news for the consumer electronics giant: it shifted 6.5 million PlayStation 3s between October and December 2009, says VG247.

That's a rise of 2 million consoles and over 44 per cent from the 4.5 million Sony sold in the same period in 2008. A price cut amd the new PS3 Slim model did their bit, and the launch of Modern Warfare 2 probably helped, too.

Things weren't so rosy for PS3's stable-mates, though. The ageing PS2, which celebrates its tenth birthday this year, slowed from 2.5m to 2.1m sales.

Of more concern to Sony will be the fate of the PSP handheld, which despite the launch of the PSPgo dropped almost 18 per cent of its fourth-quarter sales, falling from 5.1 million units in 2008 to 4.2 million in 2009.

Picture of Oli.

About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (33) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • 52pickup #1 2 years ago

    Good numbers there. As long as they continue to invest in quality games i'm happy.

  • ryandsimmons #2 2 years ago

    Tagline is wrong. Should be "PSP and PS2 suffer" surely...

  • BonzoBanana #3 2 years ago

    Not surprised pspgo has had a negative effect on sales. Truly awful product yet probably makes people think the original psp is being superceded so its massively damaging to the psp brand.

  • mcbi4kh2 #4 2 years ago

    I think Sony will be very happy with the PS2 selling over 2 million units in 3 months, 10 years after it was launched.
    Edited by 2 at 04/02/10 @ 08:50

  • INSOMANiAC #5 2 years ago

    I think theyll be very very surprised mcbi4h2, seeings how they took backwards compatability out of the PS3 because 'Noone wants to play PS2 games anymore'

  • ryandsimmons #6 2 years ago

    @ mcbi4kh2

    I was in Romania last week and every supermarket had a huge selection of PS2s and games, with a very small collection of everything else. Looks like in the ex communist bloc the PS2 is by far the console of choice. I'd imagine thats where most of the sales come in.

  • mingster #7 2 years ago

    I'd love to see sales stats for the pspgo...

  • Murton #8 2 years ago

    I can't remember the last time I saw a PS2 in a store other than the occasional pre-owned, I guess these sales must be happening overseas somewhere. If it's still selling like this ten years on I don't see how any console could possibly take the crown of best selling console ever away from it. Won't be surprised if we see something out of Sony later this year to celebrate the ten year anniversary of the console.

    The PSP figures aren't surprising, not only does it not receive just attention from the third party developers but isn't receiving significant marketing support vs the Nintendo DS. Unless both of those issues are resolved it's going to continue to struggle in the market.

  • awb83 #9 2 years ago

    Sony need to do something drastic with the PSP. I would say, either kill it off completely or give it a price point of between £99 and £119.99 (and for a limited time a free game too) and slash the price of games. They should also give it a decent marketing campaign too.

    The evidence is there for all to see how much the price cut done for the PS3.

    That's my take on the PSP.

  • M_of_the_sys #10 2 years ago

    It doesn't help that the PSPGo is priced smilarly to the PS3.

  • RandomTerrain #11 2 years ago

    I think the PSPgo looks really cool, and wanted one, but it's so much more expensive than my PSP 3000! And for what reason? It doesn't seem to offer anything new. Same battery time, same game load speed as far as I'm aware. Strange as it's flash memory, I thought those things would improve when there is no disc to read.

    Just looks good and it's easier to carry around. I'll stick with the 3000 for now. I heard they are working on the PSP2. I wonder if it will have two sticks, I would hope so.

  • laharl80 #12 2 years ago

    The PS2 is still a great console.I use mine a lot especially for rpgs.According to famitsu the PSP was the highest selling console in japan in january.If i were Sony i would make a proper PSP2 with either 2 or no analog nubs and some form of physical media drive.The controls are the only reason i hardly ever use my PSP.

  • Triggerhappytel #13 2 years ago

    "Sony sold 6.5m PS3s last autumn

    PSP and PS3 suffer, though."

    Huh?!

  • SYS64738 #14 2 years ago

    Bought a PSP Go at launch day and never looked back. Sometimes I even forget I have a bulky 2000 sitting on a shelf (with a large selection of UMD's that I cannot bother to carry around with me while on the move). The smaller form factor is the best thing about it (plus a much improved analogue stick), makes the additional cost well worth it in my book.

    And to those who still want a second analogue stick - I'm not sure how comfortable that would be, plus you'd probably need to make it thicker as 2 shoulder buttons wouldn't really be enough. Then again I don't feel the need to play FPS type games on a handheld anyways as I think they don't suit handheld platforms, so I can well live without such a feature.

    For me the PSP Go is a brilliant product, but its neck was broken by poor pricing and dysmal marketing, which pisses me off more than all the people bashing it all the time. I reckon it could've been very successful had Sony handled the UMD > Digital transfer better. Mind you a couple of free games made the deal reasonably sweeter.

    Oh and Randomterrain - the reading speed IS much improved. Midnight Club LA is a perfect example, at least 10 secs shaved off loading times. I hate UMD's for so many reasons and don't wanna see them ever again.
    Edited by 1 at 04/02/10 @ 10:11

  • Darren #15 2 years ago

    Typical EG really... you always guarantee to find at least ONE mistake. Makes me wonder if anybody bothers to proof read before they post because I'm not the most observant of people yet I spotted the goof instantly.

  • Shikasama #16 2 years ago

    Is this news? Really?

  • Mkwone #17 2 years ago

    I'm expecting a new PSP to be announced 2011 with the Go being as much a market research project as reinventing the handheld.

    The disapointing thing is that even with big name releases like Motorstorm, GT and LBP the handheld didn't sell as well.

    If think most people are like me and completly overlook the psp in terms of upcoming games. I still maintain it is a good, if poorly designed bit of kit.

  • patch #18 2 years ago

    There are (admittedly unsubstantiated) rumblings about a PSPGo relaunch. IMHO when pricing the PSPGo (16Gb games machine) they've targeted the iPod touch (16Gb music player) as the main competitor and priced it similarly. Only problem is they don't have Apple's marketing, reputation and fanboys (let alone online store!).

  • Widge #19 2 years ago

    @SYS64738

    You say something I've been wondering about. Would be lovely to have a PSP2 that could do PS2 emulation but I can't see how they'd get an extra 2 shoulder buttons in there either.

    I would LOVE a PSP with the same form factor as the Go, but was a phone too. Everything in one wee device, I'd be well happy. Expandable memory would be a massive + over the iPhone.

  • SYS64738 #20 2 years ago

    @ Widge

    true but then the problem would be battery life. Which is one of the main reasons I'd like to keep phone and handheld gaming separate. Imagine you played for 3 hours on a plane, but then wanna make a quick phone call only to realise that the battery is flat. This is one of the major issues I have with the PSPGo (and applies to the iPhone too) that you can't change the battery (thanks to Pandora I'd say).

    Edit: regarding PS2 emulation, yes that would be sweet but then look at the situation re PS1 games. Doesn't bode well for getting PS2 titles on the store (plus game files would be considerably bigger). Still would love to play the likes of ICO etc. on a handheld /drool
    Edited by 1 at 04/02/10 @ 11:10

  • drumbaby #21 2 years ago

    PS2 sales, of any amount, are basically a bonus for Sony now. 2,000,000 is quite a tidy number tbh.

  • barat #22 2 years ago

    Total shipments (Marketshare)

    Wii: 67.4 mill (48.2%)
    360: 39 mill (27.9%)
    PS3: 33.5 mill (23.9%)

  • Goffee #23 2 years ago

    Having had a PSP for years and then just got an iPhone, quite frankly the PSP store is an embarrassment and shows Sony's lack of vision, lack of reaching out to other devs and lack of marketing nous.

  • telboy007 #24 2 years ago

    How is still buying a PS2? Amazing really.

  • Dabs #25 2 years ago

    EG, your proof-reading has been so shoddy lately and clearly I'm not the only person to have noticed. Sort it out, this isn't supposed to be some shoddy, two-bit gaming site.

  • Les #26 2 years ago

    "the PSP store is an embarrassment and shows Sony's lack of vision, lack of reaching out to other devs and lack of marketing nous."

    What hurts Sony here (and Nintendo and MS) is that the 'new' digital downloads in effect are competing with the established games distribution method through stores. Apple had no such issues when setting up the App store.

  • Mister_G #27 2 years ago

    Good news for PS3.

    PS2 will drop off quickly now that the PS3 is affordable and has a great catalogue of games + platinum titles.

    PSP is suffering because the PSP Go! is way way way too expensive. Sony needs to bring the price down and quickly. Having said that though, it still sells very well in Japan.

  • Andee #28 2 years ago

    Where exactly are they selling all these PS2s? I've been looking to buy one recently and it seems nowhere stocks them anymore.

  • GamesConnoisseur #29 2 years ago

    DS which was seen as an antiquated handheld system and PSP going for a superior tech of UMD. Now we know Sont backtracked and instead going for memory based storage and thus UMD was a horrible mistake but it may simply more to do with the timing of what technology was available.

    PSP is unarguably a failure when compared to DS but on its own seemed okay but software sales arent so hot is what not helped 3rd party developers. Sony going for PSP Go without any real advance in hardware is also an missed opportunity. I would have been first in the queue to get PSP2 in Go format but PSP repackaged at a cost?

    Am I foolish enough? Porting all my UMD over to memory or repurchasing them? Fobbing me off with just freebies?

    You sire can keep your product thank you! Let me know when PSP 2 is ready?

  • Les #30 2 years ago

    "DS which was seen as an antiquated handheld system and PSP going for a superior tech of UMD."

    I see nice parallels with the initial reactions to the iPhone and iPad... ;)

    DS was a success because it wasn't powerful. That was the only way to make it practically impossible for publishers/developers to port current-gen home console titles to the system. PSP's power allowed for the easy road and ended up with a games catalogue that was similar to what can be played on PS2/PS3.

  • Diomedes #31 2 years ago

    So PS3 is right now (or was at 31 dec) at 33.5 million and has sold up to date 261 million games......not bad,its about 8 games per console really.

    The PSP is in danger ,though ,the sales are getting weaker and it moves very little software outside of Japan.Even the numbers for software shipped seems too high given what we see usually of the PSP in the charts and statistics (about 2% worht of the market)...11 million is the same as the last year so its holding a bit.In any case the hanheld was released in Japan in 2004 this year will be the sixth in the market the succesor cant be so far away.

    But overall its good that the gaming division has at least turned a profit.
    Edited by 1 at 04/02/10 @ 19:48

  • zedzee #32 2 years ago

    Funny how Sony starts selling more kit when it drops the price to an (almost reasonable) level, isn't it?

    @ SYS64738:

    You "can't be bothered" to carry the UMD because they don't work on your PSPgo and there's no way that Sony has provided (to its loyal PSPslim owners to convert them.

    Don't you mean the Memory Stick M2 (making all your previous investments in normal Memory Sticks incompatible) slot is the best thing about the PSPgo, as it makes Sony more money when you (not only shell out to buy games on-line) but also shell out for a new one, every time you download a new game and hope that you (a) don't misplace them and (b) they don't get corrupted when you go through an airport scanner!

    PSPgo is the worst product in the PlayStation portfolio by far. They should've improved the UMD (cartridge style, anyone?) and waited to release PSP2.

  • SYS64738 #33 2 years ago

    @ zedzee

    I couldn't be bothered to carry UMD's around when I still used my 2000, so the Go was a godsent to me (especially due to the additional memory that comes with it). I have over 40 games on my Go (16GB internal memory plus 16GB M2 stick), plus 2 GB of music and a few episodes of Miami Vice (don't start!). I travel by plane a lot with carry on luggage only, so having to carry 3-4 bags of UMD's can be an issue, but the real pain is to change them. Oh and buying UMD's was a pain already as the shelf space in shops was taken over by truckloads of DS shovelware a long time ago.

    The M2 argument doesn't work well in my case either as I already have a Sony Ericsson phone that uses them. No problem for me. I admit that I may have been the ideal target audience for the PSPGo, and because of that I am very happy indeed with the product. Plus, you simply cannot underestimate the reduced form factor, it fits easily into my pockets, unlike the UMD models.