OK I wanted to get a feel for the success of the price cut which I have based on the 19th September. My source of information is the infamous VGChartz which for my purposes I have used to provide my trend analysis.
Prior to this price cut the 360 was losing or neutral in almost all territories including America as classified in VGC for 2008. This was a bit of a suprise and I fully expected a larger lead for America at least. Leading up to the price cut I deemed the PS3 to be leading in 7 of the 10 territories.
With the price cut we see a huge swing. The PS3 now only leads in Japan going neutral for a further 5 and losing in 4. Some major wins here for Microsoft not least of which UK, but more interesting some complete turnarounds France, Germany, Spain and other Europe. What is also interesting is the significant outselling in Italy, Scandinavia and the UK.
Another observation of note is UK is the second largest console consumer outside of the America with Japan clearly trailing against a number of European countries. When Microsoft or Sony talk about Europe being the key it all becomes a little clearer.
In conclusion it would appear from the trends seen here that Microsoft have reversed the flow and are now in a very good position to make this a very successful Christmas. It also demonstrates that the good work Sony had done earlier in the year have quickly begun to unravel and it is hard to see what can be done going into this Christmas period to help staunch some of this flow.
Now I agree this is still early days possible to early to really get a feel but the changes in Europe in particular are significant and if maintained will lead to real problems for the PS3.
Obviously the Wii is going through the roof but even here the Wii points to problems in the Japanese market with both the UK and France selling more. This when you consider the joint populations of UK and France are similar to that of Japan.
VGChartz Hardware data for the period 20th Sep 2008 to 08th Nov 2008:
Console Wii PS3 X360 America 1,587,675 469,828 677,855 Japan 205,592 95,296 72,301 UK 400,922 120,720 217,898 France 245,215 97,585 105,595 Germany 163,810 85,308 74,073 Spain 138,117 120,632 107,304 Italy 78,636 58,707 82,774 Scandi 62,408 25,563 36,579 Other Eur 116,351 89,718 91,419 Australia 43,453 33,589 39,930
VGChartz Hardware data for the period 05th Jan 2008 to 13th Sep 2008:
Console Wii PS3 X360 America 5,764,914 2,353,696 2,375,189 Japan 2,140,792 681,341 170,482 UK 1,834,022 671,696 627,892 France 1,135,868 502,402 252,752 Germany 722,382 317,884 175,886 Spain 488,674 447,104 187,552 Italy 338,685 261,689 176,433 Scandi 259,516 196,268 115,631 Other Eur 434,005 561,483 238,839 Australia 234,744 162,371 158,115
1
Prior to this price cut the 360 was losing or neutral in almost all territories including America as classified in VGC for 2008. This was a bit of a suprise and I fully expected a larger lead for America at least. Leading up to the price cut I deemed the PS3 to be leading in 7 of the 10 territories.
With the price cut we see a huge swing. The PS3 now only leads in Japan going neutral for a further 5 and losing in 4. Some major wins here for Microsoft not least of which UK, but more interesting some complete turnarounds France, Germany, Spain and other Europe. What is also interesting is the significant outselling in Italy, Scandinavia and the UK.
Another observation of note is UK is the second largest console consumer outside of the America with Japan clearly trailing against a number of European countries. When Microsoft or Sony talk about Europe being the key it all becomes a little clearer.
In conclusion it would appear from the trends seen here that Microsoft have reversed the flow and are now in a very good position to make this a very successful Christmas. It also demonstrates that the good work Sony had done earlier in the year have quickly begun to unravel and it is hard to see what can be done going into this Christmas period to help staunch some of this flow.
Now I agree this is still early days possible to early to really get a feel but the changes in Europe in particular are significant and if maintained will lead to real problems for the PS3.
Obviously the Wii is going through the roof but even here the Wii points to problems in the Japanese market with both the UK and France selling more. This when you consider the joint populations of UK and France are similar to that of Japan.
VGChartz Hardware data for the period 20th Sep 2008 to 08th Nov 2008:
Console Wii PS3 X360
America 1,587,675 469,828 677,855
Japan 205,592 95,296 72,301
UK 400,922 120,720 217,898
France 245,215 97,585 105,595
Germany 163,810 85,308 74,073
Spain 138,117 120,632 107,304
Italy 78,636 58,707 82,774
Scandi 62,408 25,563 36,579
Other Eur 116,351 89,718 91,419
Australia 43,453 33,589 39,930
VGChartz Hardware data for the period 05th Jan 2008 to 13th Sep 2008:
Console Wii PS3 X360
America 5,764,914 2,353,696 2,375,189
Japan 2,140,792 681,341 170,482
UK 1,834,022 671,696 627,892
France 1,135,868 502,402 252,752
Germany 722,382 317,884 175,886
Spain 488,674 447,104 187,552
Italy 338,685 261,689 176,433
Scandi 259,516 196,268 115,631
Other Eur 434,005 561,483 238,839
Australia 234,744 162,371 158,115