At first, due to the effects of the global economic crisis, the holiday season was expected to be one of the worse in recent years when it comes to sales figures. Luckily, it turned out exactly the opposite for the players in the game console industry, which were some of the few who not only had better sales than expected, but actually reached new records.
Microsoft released yesterday the holiday sales figures for its Xbox 360, stating that it has been by far its most successful holiday season to date. Aaron Greenberg, director of product management for Xbox 360, explained that the company managed to boost its lead over Sony’s PlayStation 3 by 8 million units, as it sold so far more than 28 million units worldwide and the PS3’s figures show only 20 million units shipped. The Xbox’s appeal was significantly upgraded with the decision to lower the price of the console’s entry level model to $199, which made it the cheapest next-generation console available on the market. Until then, the Wii console was sold for $249.
The data was gathered using the information available in certain regions, showing sales of about 835,000 in November in the United States and even though the official figures for December will be released in about a week, it is believed that the company sold more than 1.60 million units.
Sony also had a very good year, with its business showing a constant growth and finishing the year with a 60 percent improvement from last year’s period. The sales chart includes the period between January 1, 2008, and November 30, 2008, showing that the economic crisis did not affect its course in any way.
"We've had a solid holiday season and have delivered consistent growth throughout this year. Two thousand eight was a pivotal year for PlayStation with the best software line up in the industry, a dramatic expansion of PlayStation Network including the launches of the video delivery service and the beta of the PlayStation Home," explained in a recent statement Mr. Ian Jackson, vice president of sales for Sony Computer Entertainment America, adding that "Early internal data points to an increase of more than 130 percent of PS3 hardware sales for the holiday season--since Black Friday--and we're also seeing a growth of nearly 40 percent in total PS3 hardware sales for the calendar year. We remain confident this momentum will continue into the New Year." One of the bumps that the company has to deal with is its product’s price – the cheapest PS3 console costs $399, making some gaming enthusiasts turn their attention to the competition, which delivers products at significantly lower prices.
Nintendo’s success is also something that cannot be denied, as the company sold more than 8 million Wiis from January 1, 2008 to November 30, 2008. The company managed to outsell the competition in a very enthusiastic manner, shipping more consoles than the sales of the PSP, the PlayStation 3, the PlayStation 2 and the Xbox 360 put together.
