Sony: 'Consumers have chosen the PS3 as their home entertainment console of choice'.
Sony has reacted to NPD sales figures from May by chest thumping over better sales of the PS3 than the Xbox 360 and a higher GTA 4 attach rate.
The figures, according to SCEA president and CEO Jack Tretton, show 'consumers have chosen the PS3 as their home entertainment console of choice'.
AdvertisementAccording to NPD May sales data, the PS3 sold 208,709 hardware units, 22,106 more than the Xbox 360. Hardware growth was at an impressive 155% over the same period last year. PlayStation total hardware revenue was $133 million in May, 98% higher than Microsoft, and representing a year-over-year growth of over 20.4%.
And more than 32% of US PS3 owners have purchased a copy of GTA 4, what Sony calls a 6% higher attach rate than Xbox 360.
Sony also pointed out that the "PlayStation brand" had generated close to $2.27 billion in revenue in 2008 alone, 46% more than Microsoft.
Sony said 1.26 million PS3 games were sold in May, an increase of 234% year on year. The Japanese game company said this was primarily made up of "enthusiasm" for GTA 4, SingStar and Haze. It earned $331.6 million from "PlayStation brand" sales alone in May.
Sony expects hardware sales momentum to continue in June, mainly because of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and the special edition bundle with a PS3.
Jack Tretton, president and CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment America, said the GTA 4 PS3 attach rate "reaffirmed its legacy on the PlayStation platform".
"Leading into a pivotal season packed with blockbuster titles and unique online service offerings, consumers have chosen the PS3 as their home entertainment console of choice - showcased by its year-over-year sales growth of 155 percent. With its commanding line up of software titles and enhanced movie playback capabilities, the PS3 has seen phenomenal momentum with a software sales increase of more than 234 percent and additional studio support of delivering content in the Blu-ray format," said Tretton.
He continued: "The dual platform release of the much anticipated Grand Theft Auto IV title reaffirmed its legacy on the PlayStation platform with a 6 percent higher attach rate than Xbox 360, reinforcing consumer choice of PS3. Poised for continued momentum, PS3 is delivering on its breadth and depth of exclusive titles to its gaming fans with today's prized exclusive title launch of Metal Gear Solid 4. The media have hailed 2008 as the year of the PS3, and with solid sales and growth opportunities ahead, we feel consumers are saying the same."
ITs obvious. wrote at 10:00 on 13 June 2008
I dont get why all the boasting about percentages from last year. PS3 was SOOO poor last year in every way. So its abvious now that we get some decent games to play that sales will go up. but to boast about it is just stupid. What about prophit margins. how much of a margin have they lost since they had to bring the prices down. Sometimes a cant believe I gave sony my hard earned cash to read about this crap.
Ive been waiting a YEAR for a good game on PS3 maybe sony should release an apology for selling us a glorified blu-ray player with some tagged on 360 ports for a year. All that said Thanks for MGS4 about time.
TURT3L wrote at 19:45 on 13 June 2008
The GTAIV attach rate means nothing. Xbox 360 has a larger install base, so it's likely that not every 360 owner will want to buy GTAIV, so a 6% "greater" attach rate for GTAIV is meaningless.
Chaser wrote at 23:35 on 14 June 2008
Spin it as you like but MGS4 is rated as a "masterpiece" by IGN and Gamespot. They both also noted that MGS4 is the best looking game EVER. MGS4 uses a dual layer 50GB Blue Ray disk. Amazon.com's MGS4 PS3 bundle offer caused the site to go down due to so many hits until they were completely sold out.
This game just brought the PS3 into the foreground. It raises the bar for every new game in the future.