CNET reveals the shocking truth about console sales!!!!!

I found this very interesting

http://blogs.cnet.com/5530-13506_1-0-10.html?forumID=167&messageID=2496306&threadID=228673

@AutomaticZen

Read my post fully before you comment on it.

The facts.

1. Microsoft only reports SHIPPED UNITS and has never provide VGChartz or NPD anything but SHIPPED units. If you have proof otherwise please provide it. Data supporting this can easily be referenced at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360

Not only do they have the chart of SHIPPED units but they reference every single Microsoft Quarterly Report which you can access yourself.

2. You reference both VGChartz and NPD. If you so easily post these sources you should be aware of how they arrive at their estimates. Both gather Microsoft SHIPPED data for the console (Sony & Nintendo quote sales for these purposes) and they then poll some of the largest retailers in the market but are simply unable to gather total and complete sales statistics. Clearly stated while their figures are not true sales but an estimate they are only helpful to gauge buying trends or market sentiment, but that is as useful as they get.

The last word on real sales come from the Manufacturers themselves. All three companies are publicly owned and traded and as such they are able to report either Shipped Units, Units Sold, or both to the market. However what they cannot do is misrepresent sales figures in anyway that is untruthful or misleading. This is why Microsoft chooses to provide SHIPPED units only as their method of reporting, While Nintendo has no problem as the current blockbuster and leading console with reporting sales, and Sony is rather low key in the face of overwhelming expectations on thier performance.

This is why we look to truly repectable and time honoured financial instutions like Financial Times for the closest real sales estimates for these companies.


Friday 14th of September 2007
http://news.cnet.co.uk/gamesgear/0,39029682,49292780,00.htm

"According to the FT, approximately 9 million Wiis were purchased across the globe as of 31 July, just barely overtaking the 360's sales of 8.9 million units during the same period. Both platforms were far ahead of the PlayStation 3, which sold only around an estimated 3.7 million units internationally."

Microsoft has sold approx 8.9 million xbox 360's in 20 months. This means that will most likely not even hit their total first year sales target of 12 million units IN 2 FULL YEARS of sales. Corporately this type of miss is considered a failure. Support for this is directly below in the seekingalpha report.

October 25, 2006
http://seekingalpha.com/article/19252-microsoft-to-miss-xbox-360-sales-targets-by-as-much-as-25

Excerpt
"Why? People forget that the original projection for XBox 360 sales was for 5.5 to 6 million within six months of launch. That projection was re-iterated in January this year, but extended out to 5.5 million by July."


Kaz Hirai, the president and CEO of the Sony Corp. gaming division, said in an interview at TGS this September that "...the Sony Playstation 3 has sold between 5 - 6 million units already (closer to 5 million though)...".

You also need to understand that Sony shipped 6 million units by March 2007 and has shipped even more since with the final releases of the 60g model and new release of the 80g PS3. So you can easily see that Sony is not quoting, in September, SHIPPED numbers but actual SALES.

And just so you understand perfectly it was said by the President (a signing officer of a publicly traded company) of the Sony Gaming Division. And whether you like it or not he is not allowed to publicly or otherwise mislead the public or investors with material details of their business; he was clear between 5 - 6 million to which he more specically stated low 5 millions. So accept the fact that the xbox 360 has under performed, in relation to its first year of sales vs Nintendo and Sony, being dead last in relation to its first year launch performance, and has massive quality and dependability issues.

The Halo 3 launch is Microsofts last great chance to get ahead of Sony before the PS3 juggernaut begins and it doesn't look good at all after Halo 3.

It really is a funny situation, at least to me, that by the end of the PS3's first year it will have pwnd the xbox 360 in its first full year of sales, it is also a reason why Sony is taken a very measured approach to price reductions.

Sony is actually doing well in relation to the cost of their console and their first years sales projections, but the markets elevated expectations of the PS3 console in its first year have never been higher for a gaming console.

The real assault comes heading into next year with all of the PS3's AAA games and they know that a large amount of xbox 360 users will also be buying into the PS 3 console.

I just don't see any upside to Microsoft after the Halo 3 launch - I think it is pretty much game over for the xbox 360 vs the PS3. The game line ups are just too strong for Microsoft to maintain any momentum.

2. During an earnings call in January 2007, Microsoft's CFO downgraded estimated Xbox 360 sales for the first half of 2007. Cumulative sales from the system's launch until June 30, 2007 were predicted to reach 12 million units, down from 13 to 15 million units estimated earlier. Microsoft later announced they SHIPPED 11.6 million units cumulative to June 30 2007. So it has taken Microsoft 19 months to SHIP NOT SELL 11.6 million units. Included in these SHIPPED totals are new console replacements to retailers for defect Xbox 360's. Microsoft does not break these out seperately but includes them in the SHIPPPED group. If you wish to argue this please save us time read the quarterly reports and see if you can find defective unit replacements broken out seperately from new shipped consoles. Microsofts marketing tactics are as bad as they can get.

You can access the microsoft quarterly reports at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360


Microsoft SHIPPED 11.6 million Xbox 360s vs 12 Million goal. Reuters articel:

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUKN0538169920070705?rpc=44

3. And as for trying to claim that comparing 21 months of sales to 9 months of sales is unreasonable. Sales are also affected as a console matures and its major titles get released. The only way to accurately measure the performance of these separate consoles is by sales at relative points in time. So while, to the unstudied individual, it is easy to just claim the xbox 360 has more units in the market than the PS3 and as a result is winning or the leader between the two is naieve. The P3 will easily have outsold the xbox by the end of 2008.

4. The other key item you are omitting is that as the next gen of the PS3 games are hitting the quality of them is unatainable by the xbox 360. The almost photo realistic in game graphics, amazing image rendering, simultaneous physics manipulation of over thousands of indiviual items, and extreme differences in pixel rendering of the PS3 to the xbox 360 will start to become very clear as these new titles roll out. Halo 3 Bioshock, Forza 2, & Gears of War all have a cartoonish graphic saturation to them as a result of the xbox 360's graphic limitation. Even a Halo 3 bungie developer said that to include the flame thrower in Halo 3 was a major challenge due to the high cost of resources - this is a joke as a PS 3 doesn't even break a sweat with this kind of image rendering.

With all of the talk about Halo being the greatest gaming franchise one must bring people back to reality with the worlds real greatest gaming franchise Gran Turismo which has sold over 50 million copies to date. As of this time Halo 1 and Halo 2 have sold a grand total of 13 million copies and even if Halo 3 exceeds the 8 million copies of Halo 2 it will still have sold less copies than Gran Turismo. So why do I bring this up? Check it out below.

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue the most realistic racing simulator ever:
http://media.ps3.ign.com/media/857/857126/img_4801523.html
http://media.ps3.ign.com/media/857/857126/img_4801564.html

This is also the example of graphic in game capabilities that the xbox 360 will never be able to do and thus not be able to provide a gaming experience to the same level that the PS3 will.

Right now and for several months to come there will be a solid glow on the xbox 360 from Halo 3. But after this passes reality of the PS3 and the difference of the gaming experience will start to become very clear. Xbox 360's games will feel like they were developed in the 90's vs the PS3's true next gen gaming experiences.

9.5

/thread

9.5

/thread

ReverseCycology

lol!

Nearly 3 million people bought Halo 3 in the US alone! Don't give me that crap that only 4 million or whatever have been sold. MS has sold over 11 million now. jd7-03

What ever make you sleep at night, but the blogger backed his claims with hard evidence. so I know which 1 to believe.

So in other words..."Just Wait"SkyRaid

OMFG LOL that was great.

but yeah i agree with the article. although im not sure that MS gives Shipped not sold, they are getting their ass kicked regardless saleswise. if Halo 3 was their last chance then i think they truely are boned. beyond Halo 3 and maybe GTA IV (multiplat) i see no upcoming games that would have the brand recognition and casual appeal to bring in a sales boost like many Wii and PS3 games are. the casual gamer outnumbers the hardcore like 9 to 1 so if therefore more important in the eyes of companies.

Thats a comment to an article..

And Microsoft using shipped numbers is nothing new, sony has been using produced numbers (meaning how many PS3s they've made, which is ever worse).

Your title is misleading. It's a blogger on CNET, not the actual website.

And that last part is nothing new. Wait until next year.

[QUOTE="jd7-03"]Nearly 3 million people bought Halo 3 in the US alone! Don't give me that crap that only 4 million or whatever have been sold. MS has sold over 11 million now. gameruk2010

What ever make you sleep at night, but the blogger backed his claims with hard evidence. so I know which 1 to believe.

Correction, it sounds like something you want to hear.

You do know Sony counts "Shipped" as "Manufactured" right? Which means Sony can make 20 million PS3's and place them in their holding warehouses and they count them as "Shipped"

Here's the thing, sold to consumers (vs sold to retailers) really means absolutely nothing. Technically speaking, MS only makes money off of the units sold to retailers like EB, Gamestop, Best Buy etc. After that MS (or Nintendo or Sony) will never see a dime directly off of consoles. Sure they'll make money indirectly through sales of accessories, games, XBL accounts, DLC etc., but as far as the console manufacturers are concerned, sold to consumers is a pretty meaningless number. They get their estimates as to how many consumers buy their products through orders from retailers. So in reality, once that console is shipped to retailers, as far as a manufacturer is concerned its as good as sold to consumers, because in reality the consumer in the case of console sales is the retailer.PBSnipes

Yeah that makes alot of sense. As long as the retailers purchase the system, sales to consumer really don't matter. I mean it's not like they need a growing market to fund development of games.......oh wait.

That article is a blog of a random user on CNET.DaAznSaN

Guy's, please stop complaining about the length of the post. Yes, the OP didn't spend all night thinking of two lines of meaningless dribble that usually populates these boards. It was a lengthy post comprised of multiple paragraphs. If you can't even muster the energy to READ for 2 minutes, please don't fill this thread up with signal flares of your idiocy.

And yes, Halo 3 is a good game. The 360 is a good system. But I truly believe that the PS3 is the console of the future. The 360 had crap games for the first year of it's existence. People dubbed it Xbox 1.5...remember? But then Gears of War hit, and that is when the 360 truly became a next-gen console. I'm sure Sony will experience a similar console cycle.

[QUOTE="PBSnipes"]Here's the thing, sold to consumers (vs sold to retailers) really means absolutely nothing. Technically speaking, MS only makes money off of the units sold to retailers like EB, Gamestop, Best Buy etc. After that MS (or Nintendo or Sony) will never see a dime directly off of consoles. Sure they'll make money indirectly through sales of accessories, games, XBL accounts, DLC etc., but as far as the console manufacturers are concerned, sold to consumers is a pretty meaningless number. They get their estimates as to how many consumers buy their products through orders from retailers. So in reality, once that console is shipped to retailers, as far as a manufacturer is concerned its as good as sold to consumers, because in reality the consumer in the case of console sales is the retailer.bobaban

Yeah that makes alot of sense. As long as the retailers purchase the system, sales to consumer really don't matter. I mean it's not like they need a growing market to fund development of games.......oh wait.

This is the son of the original poster, my father died by the time he was almost done reading it.TalesofRaGnArOk

So for 360 sales, we have to trust Financial Times numbers of 8.9 million b/c it's a "truly respectable source", but since it also says the PS3 has "only sold 3.7 million", we must take the PS3 numbers from Kaz Hirai.manningbowl135

Good point..

btw the thing in your sig is getting where I live completely wrong :P

[QUOTE="manningbowl135"]So for 360 sales, we have to trust Financial Times numbers of 8.9 million b/c it's a "truly respectable source", but since it also says the PS3 has "only sold 3.7 million", we must take the PS3 numbers from Kaz Hirai.user_nat

Good point..

btw the thing in your sig is getting where I live completely wrong :P

It actually tells where you are right now.

I'm lazy, can I get a brief summary? Please? I promise, no flaming ;)ParasiteDemon

Microsoft is only telling us the shipped number of 360s. In total they sold around 9 million over 2 years. Sony sold 5-6 million and is beating 360 in it's first year of sales. The Wii is still beating both of them.

"You also need to understand that Sony shipped 6 million units by March 2007 and has shipped even more since with the final releases of the 60g model and new release of the 80g PS3. So you can easily see that Sony is not quoting, in September, SHIPPED numbers but actual SALES."biased article

I'm glad someone is realizing the truth. HALO 3 IS NOT AS GOOD AS THOUGHT- IT'S OVERRATED. Ps3 is so much better than people think, but they already bought the 360 and can't afford the ps3. I, personally, was turned off by all the faulty hardware ( I would have bought a 360 had this not been a problem, and I've had nothing but ps consoles), so I bought a wii then psp then ps3. I'm very happy about my purchases and that I don't have to worry about the RLOD.xenos4

Halo made a 170 million dollars. So for an overated game, it did pretty good.

its some random blogger on CNet responding to an artilce yesterday which said soany is losing and never going to catch up.

it fails when he sas NPD numbers are shipped, when they are the same for all three which is seel through. very lame post and not worht reading

That blog is written by some random fanboy user who can't even properly type. How pathetic.BioShockOwnz

I'm not catching how the PS3 will have pwned the 360's first year sales. It's pretty close, basically neck and neck is it not?

The rest of this blog is speculation. I agree that the 360's future isn't too bright in terms of expanding its user base very far past halo3, while the ps3 still has its best hardware moving games ahead of it. I think it's a pretty good guess that the second year ps3 sales will be better than the first, but it's not very fair to guess that it will necessarily surpass the 360's 2nd year sales. It's still expensive, and there are too many gamers that don't NEED to have one no matter what.

I'm lazy, can I get a brief summary? Please? I promise, no flaming ;)ParasiteDemon

yeah lol

[QUOTE="BioShockOwnz"]That blog is written by some random fanboy user who can't even properly type. How pathetic.Truth-slayer

Hmmm, really? I thought the exact opposite.

[QUOTE="Truth-slayer"][QUOTE="BioShockOwnz"]That blog is written by some random fanboy user who can't even properly type. How pathetic.BioShockOwnz

Hmmm, really? I thought the exact opposite.

Yeah, I'd hardly consider Wikipedia a credible source.

Ah, here's the article I was looking for.

http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/01/30/HNsonyprofits_1.html

Sony wouldn't provide anyPlayStation 3 shipment estimates for the coming financial year but said it remains confident it will ship 6 million consoles up to March. It also revised upwards its PlayStation 2 shipment forecast from 11 million units to 13 million units. Sony counts shipments as finished consoles leaving its factory for Sony warehouses and distributors.

And this pretty much shoots this thread straight to hell, now doesn't it. ;)