After dropping the price on PS3 and introducing the new slim model, Sony finally managed to capture the top spot for hardware sales in the U.S. during September, selling close to 500,000 units. In Japan, the PS3 saw a 707% upswing since the price cut went into effect across the Pacific.
Despite a big (and much needed) surge from the PS3, some analysts questioned just how long it would last. After all, the Xbox 360 Elite SKU also came down to $299 and the Wii was dropped to $199. EEDAR said that the excitement for price cuts in September "wore off quicker than expected." Nevertheless, Tony Bartel, Executive VP of Merchandising and Marketing for GameStop, told IndustryGamers today that Sony's momentum was not limited to just September.
"We continue to see the [price drop] giving strong momentum to PS3. Obviously we had a strong surge when they initially dropped the price, and there was a lot of excitement around that, but we still see PS3 sales as very strong through October as well," Bartel said, without providing specific data.
It'll be interesting to see how the hardware numbers stack up for October once we have the official NPD tally later this month.
1 Comments
November 5, 2009
lulz. Just last month, you guys were bashing the price drops as "excitement wearing off." It is good that you acknowledge that shoddy reporting and redeem yourselves. Good article. Informative and not opinion.