PS2 sales jump

Sony sold 55,477 consoles on the PlayStation 2's first week of sales, according to extrapolated sales data leaked to us by a source in retail. Five weeks later the figure was still a respectable 39,928, but it fell off a cliff in the sixth week to a paltry 3128, proof of stock problems as if any were needed. Interestingly, the figures also reveal that it subsequently stayed under 15,000 units a week (and indeed mostly under 10,000 units) until this week just past. The week ending last Saturday, 50,476 PlayStation 2 consoles were sold in the United Kingdom. It's obvious that Sony's £199 price point has made a stunning difference to the console's sales potential. In the history of PS2, there have been several major events that could have done the same, but none did. When Sony dropped the price of the console to £269, the consumer hardly batted an eyelid. With the release of Gran Turismo 3, unquestionably the console's biggest killer app, sales remained entrenched in that 15,000 unit pocket, but with the cutting of £70 from the price, sales have leapt by 230% Whether they can remain at this stupendous high in the run up to Christmas is debatable, but nonetheless these figures represent a very credible argument for SCE in convincing its American division to reduce the console to $199. SCEA has previously said it is "not competing" with Microsoft and Nintendo this Christmas, and that SCEE's decision to drop prices across Europe was not something they intended to mimic. Ironic, we thought, because Sony has no major console competition here and will have none until Spring, but the world and its dog knows that Microsoft and Nintendo represent a worldly threat to its dominance overseas. We're guessing, but the argument from SCEA's point of view was presumably that the extra $100 per console would mean an even greater loss per unit than before, while making zero difference to sales if cut. If that was the case, these UK sales figures prove otherwise, and SCEA should seriously consider following suit. Related Feature - Sony 'are not going to be competing this year'