Stringer declares European launch a success

Speaking to the Financial Times, Sony CEO Howard Striger declared the European launch of the PlayStation 3 a success, citing that almost 800,000 units had already been sold since launch.

According to Stringer, "(USD 199m) revenue changed hands and that's probably the largest consumer electronics sale in history."

Stringer also argues that "Perhaps we lived up to the expectations in Europe in a way that perhaps we didn't in Japan", therefore helping the PS3 become a success in Europe unlike the bust it is in Japan

Stringer however also know that the console wars are nowhere near over, "The silo walls are down - we're staring across the walls at each other but we haven't quite shaken hands all the way around."

Source:
Gamesindustry.biz

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 17 Apr 2007 10:15

Advertisement - News comments available below the ad

20 comments

plutonash

and I declare myself Master of the Universe!!! In a couple of Hours we will hear the BDA proclaim victory in the HiDef for the 6th time even though HD-DVD is kicking the shit out of it this week. Sony and the rest of BDA croonies please stop its not funny any more.

17.4.2007 10:26 #1

ZippyDSM

Ok not to take sides right off the bat how where the WII and 360 launch sales in the UK?

halve the PS3 number nock 30% off the WII and 360 and the numbers are closer than you one might think.

its not bad but not great either.

17.4.2007 10:38 #2

Altercuno

Ps3's can be bought off the shelf with no waiting which you couldn't do for months here after the Wii launched. Consuls are being discounted, �25 off, and games up to �15 off. Don't look like a winner to me...

17.4.2007 11:00 #3

ZippyDSM

Originally posted by Altercuno:Ps3's can be bought off the shelf with no waiting which you couldn't do for months here after the Wii launched. Consuls are being discounted, �25 off, and games up to �15 off. Don't look like a winner to me...No kidding they have to sale it at and further loss just to sale it...it will get better as time goes on but sony is kidding them selfs if they think they made any real headway yet.

17.4.2007 12:01 #4

Altercuno

I'm starting to think the whole concept's flawed. Gaming used to be cheap fun. Not anymore. Expensive consuls, games and TV's make it look to me like Sony have jumped the shark on this one. As you say zippy time will tell...

17.4.2007 12:15 #5

ZippyDSM

Originally posted by Altercuno:I'm starting to think the whole concept's flawed. Gaming used to be cheap fun. Not anymore. Expensive consuls, games and TV's make it look to me like Sony have jumped the shark on this one. As you say zippy time will tell...since 99 or 2K games have focused on power and graphics not so much on gameplay and even less on "control" control is giving the player options like auto aiming on/off and button mapping simple things that can make a game more fun yet they use cookie cutter schemes time after time I just see the industry being lost and arrogant Nintedno has done something great with interface yet "control" is still missing and gamepaly is vaguely better than the current norm.

Video games is turely the new hollywood shallow media for shallow people because gettign older wiser gamers to buy crap is hard.

17.4.2007 12:22 #6

NexGen76

Quote:Ps3's can be bought off the shelf with no waiting which you couldn't do for months here after the Wii launched. Consuls are being discounted, �25 off, and games up to �15 off. Don't look like a winner to me...Tell me would you rather walk into a store & buy a console or be disappointed because Nintendo can meet demand which mean you can't sell anything if you do have it....Sony launch is not like there rivals Sony didn't pull the massive shortage crap this launch,because you see console on store selves does not mean that its not selling so give this statement a rest please.

17.4.2007 12:38 #7

Altercuno

Agreed. So much of what passes for entertainment now is sub standard crap.

17.4.2007 12:43 #8

Altercuno

NexGen. And yet I recall a story on this forum a few weeks ago saying, if memory serves, that sales had fallen 83% after the fan boy rush to buy...

My problem with PS3 is it looks to me like big business trying to sell us a product, not because the market wants it, but because it fits in with their sales strategy.

17.4.2007 12:49 #9

ZippyDSM

Quote:[quote]Ps3's can be bought off the shelf with no waiting which you couldn't do for months here after the Wii launched. Consuls are being discounted, �25 off, and games up to �15 off. Don't look like a winner to me...Tell me would you rather walk into a store & buy a console or be disappointed because Nintendo can meet demand which mean you can't sell anything if you do have it....Sony launch is not like there rivals Sony didn't pull the massive shortage crap this launch,because you see console on store selves does not mean that its not selling so give this statement a rest please.[/quote]the only reason Sony has theirs to sale is that the price is to high and the delays let them get more consoles ready.

again in all its not bad but not great either.

17.4.2007 12:51 #10

NexGen76

Quote:NexGen. And yet I recall a story on this forum a few weeks ago saying, if memory serves, that sales had fallen 83% after the fan boy rush to buy...I would say due to the fact that 600 is alot of money so that might have played a part into that but its really hard to put a number on Sony because there launch is nothing like we seen in a very long while.Sony flood the market with there system so its best to wait to see what the actual number are in May when all there yearly figures are in.

17.4.2007 13:35 #11

ThaJazz

also not to mention that you can have wii and a 360 for the same money and a good game lineup and a very good stable online service

17.4.2007 13:59 #12

ZippyDSM

Originally posted by ThaJazz:also not to mention that you can have wii and a 360 for the same money and a good game lineup and a very good stable online serviceI'd rather not touch a 360 till they get it fixed,the WII is nice tho :X

17.4.2007 14:04 #13

hughjars

The lying liars are just lying to us again.

3 weeks in is about as up to date as it gets right now (and note the sarcasm at the end of the report......from those well known MS fanboys at Wall St. - yeah right)

Quote:Research firm Chart Track shows that PS3 sales dropped the three weeks in a row after the game console went on sale in the UK. The press in that country has even suggested that Sony needs to cut price to pick up customers.

Over at Sony, the CEO says that the Playstation 3 launch in Europe is a clear success. The record-breaking success of the PlayStation 3 in Europe has rescued the games console from �the perception wars� that hit sales in Japan, says Sir Howard Stringer, he told the FT.

Maybe sales in Switzerland were good enough to make up for the short-fall in the UK.http://www.247wallst.com...04/is_sony_playsta.html

17.4.2007 16:07 #14

tabletpc

big woop untill the ps3 goes for 300.00 not interrested

17.4.2007 21:17 #15

borhan9

Quote:Speaking to the Financial Times, Sony CEO Howard Striger declared the European launch of the PlayStation 3 a success, citing that almost 800,000 units had already been sold since launch.That seems low compared to the other consoles already out there. Do we have the other numbers so we can do a comparison.

18.4.2007 15:11 #16

Andrew691

Quote:[quote]Speaking to the Financial Times, Sony CEO Howard Striger declared the European launch of the PlayStation 3 a success, citing that almost 800,000 units had already been sold since launch.That seems low compared to the other consoles already out there. Do we have the other numbers so we can do a comparison.[/quote]The PS3 had a very different launch(UK), in that basically everyone who wanted one could get one because there was 1million units ready. On the 360's launch there was around 300,000 units, so only a very limited few actually got a console and most went onto ebay. In the first few days of launching the PS3 sold over 600,000 , twice as much as the Xbox launched with. So the ps3 launch cant really be compared to any other system, and also the fact that they sold so many so quick the whole "sales dropped 82%" isnt really an indication that its doing badly.
Im not sure what the Wii launch stats are.

EDIT: That 800,000 is the UK numbers only, add another 2mill to get overall numbers.

18.4.2007 23:47 #17

morguex

800,000 units shipped or sold?

There is a world of diffrence between the two.

19.4.2007 12:57 #18

Andrew691

Sold, 1mill shipped. But does it matter if they only shipped? If they've shipped then Stores have purchased them off Sony so it doesnt really matter to them (SONY). I highly doubt that many would have shipped if there was no market for them.

19.4.2007 14:01 #19

ZippyDSM

Originally posted by Andrew691:Sold, 1mill shipped. But does it matter if they only shipped? If they've shipped then Stores have purchased them off Sony so it doesnt really matter to them (SONY). I highly doubt that many would have shipped if there was no market for them.I usealy reset the numbers a bit price v demand if both are high what ever numbers they are spouting is probably 30-60% less since the price on the PS3 is extra high it halve the number and that would be what has really "sold" the 360 and WII knock about 10-30% off.

Still its not bad but then again there are millions of gamers in that area less than 1/4 cant afford that price.

19.4.2007 14:12 #20

AfterDawn: News