Is 3 Million Vita Sales a Bad Thing?

"Sonys Q2 report suggests 10m PSP/vita combined sales by March.

Sony have published their Q2 financial report, and I guess as Vita fans the bit we are most interested in is the Vita sales. As of June 30th 2012 we had been told that worldwide we had seen 2.2 million units shifted since the launch and these latest figures are a little trickier to decipher as Sony have again seen fit to lumber the Vita and PSP sales together.

They have seen 1.6 million shifted in three months, versus 1.7 shifted in the same period last year, although that was just PSPs on their own. Sony have also reduced their sales projections for the Vita, stating that they now expect to reach 10m combined units by the end of the financial year in March.

But this is now the second time they have reduced the figures, after originally stating they expected 16m in May and 12m in August. Stripping through the figures is difficult, by VGCharts suggests worldwide Vita sales at this point of 3.04m sold.

Given that we are amidst a global recession, my question is simple. Why is this a bad thing? It is of course disappointing to find a platform struggling to make its mark, but it isnt even a year old yet. It was only around this point in the life of the 3DS that it started taking off, having percievably flopped with sales of around 3.6m after a poor start and the global estimate for it is now 22m as it approaches its second birthday.

The 3DS is also struggling to measure up the the incomparable success of the original DS, which is on the brink of becoming the best selling system of all time. By the same point in that life cycle, the DS was around 50m units. Considering that the PSP has around half the total sales of the DS, and the Vita has around half the 3DS sales at the same point in its life, it would appear that reports of a demise may be a little premature.

When the DS and PSP were out, there were no mass market tablets, smart phones were not as widely available or as affordable as they are now, and people had more disposable income to lavish on whatever they fancied. With all of the competition that handheld gaming now has, it is still an achievement that that Vita has hit the sales figure it has, and we have Christmas around the corner. I have seen marketing taking a big improvement here in the UK, and hopefully this momentum will see them continue beyond christmas, as people still do not know enough about the Vita.

There are still elements of strategy that need to be worked on, and although we are told that many unannounced titles are in development, it might be helpful for some names to be dropped in to give something to those looking beyond 2012 releases to give buyers cause for optimism in early 2013. Sony also probably arent helping with the continued support for the PSP. Outside of big release weeks, the PSP is currently outselling the Vita in Japan, and has done for many weeks this year. Perhaps a decision needs to be made here.

We are right in the middle of a games release explosion, and titles such as Need for Speed: Most Wanted showcase exactly what can be done and that the Vita can handle multi-platform releases, and we have quite a few more games to look forward to between now and the end of the year to go with the great selection already available.

I stated before on PS Vita Forum that with the current momentum in sales that the Vita will probably be around 6-8 million sales by the end of the financial year, which will require at least double the number sold in 8 months in just 6. But if this happens, the Vita will be at about 8-12% of the lifetime PSP sales in around 10% of the time.

Which in the current climate is surely not a bad thing. And neither is a little optimism."

http://thevitalounge.com/is-3-million-vita-sales-a-bad-thing/

didn't even know it sold this much

Its not good , but those who think its on there death beds are complete morons. Mobile devices are not near as risky or expensive to keep going as a traditonal console. They can drop the price on it next year, turn a small profit on each devcie sold and launch a few killer apps and they will be fine. Will it hit DS numbers? No but it will be relevant and survive the next few years especially if they somehow link it to the PS4.

PS: Ive only played my Vita a few times when I went out of town but I will say I fully enjoyed it and dont regret buying it.

World wide? Yes. Assuming it sales don't pick up it will take it a few decades to even get half the sales that the PSP has currently.

EDIT: Though with that said, I do belive that the Vita will survive, and I do belive it's sales will pick up, but I find it doubtful that it will be able to reach the PSP numbers.

World wide? Yes. Assuming it sales don't pick up it will take it a few decades to even get half the sales that the PSP has currently.

GamerEye

A few decades? Do you know what a decade is? Its 10 years. The PSP is at about 70 million the vita if it goes the way its going will hit probably about 5 million a year at this rate it would take a little over half of one decade.

Is 3 Million Vita Sales a Bad Thing? PSP107

No, but having a sh!tty game library is a really bad thing. I really wanted a Vita but damn. The library BLOWS.

[QUOTE="GamerEye"]

World wide? Yes. Assuming it sales don't pick up it will take it a few decades to even get half the sales that the PSP has currently.

AM-Gamer

A few decades? Do you know what a decade is? Its 10 years. The PSP is at about 70 million the vita if it goes the way its going will hit probably about 5 million a year at this rate it would take a little over half of one decade.

Yes I know what a decade is. I should of worded my post differently.

No, but having a sh!tty game library is a really bad thing. I really wanted a Vita but damn. The library BLOWS.

heretrix

Bad, no. Horribly bad, hell yes.

And LOL@original article. It's not that bad because the other guy sucks too!!! Horrid logic.

Just wait guys, if we keep at it and plow more time, money and energy into it we can move from dismal to mediocre. Hell yeah, just what Sony needs right now...another product sucking up resources with a dismal to mediocre return.

As a gamer it is worrisome too. The thing is tanking in terms of 3rd party support and you will not see a rush of people to develop for it unless/until its install base is significantly larger.

That means Sony has to divide its own development resources ever more to try to prop up the Vita because they are the only one who can...which diverts even more resources away from PS3/4.

The only way to lessen that effect is to work on things that are cross Vita/PS3 platform...but that doesn't differentiate the Vita. Which doesn't give as strong a reason to buy one.

It is the circle of mediocrity.

I honestly didn't expect much more from it.

The number itself is not THAT apocalyptic; but if you analyze it deeper then yes, it's a mess.

What I'm getting at is the monthly/weekly rate is atrocious, but these are slightly offset by a quiet strong launch period. So the 3m figure may be abit misleading, what you want to do is check the weekly rate.

Yes, sales continue to decline and there is no sign of them improving. I think after this first Vita holiday Sony will access the numbers then look into a new strategy either dropping the price or improving bundles.

The 50 million number for the DS is off, it took 3 years, the 3DS is currently 22 million after 2 years. It is unlikely to match 50 million in just over a year, but it isn't as far off as this report suggest.

Yes, sales continue to decline and there is no sign of them improving.

The 50 million number for the DS is off, it took 3 years, the 3DS is currently 22 million after 2 years. It is unlikely to match 50 million in just over a year, but it isn't as far off as this report suggest.

I think after this first Vita holiday Sony will access the numbers then look into a new strategy either dropping the price or improving bundles.

APiranhaAteMyVa

3DS is 22m after 1.5 years, with only 1 holiday.

The 22m figure is from Sep 30. Two more quarters to go, and a holiday season. If we look at the forecast and guess a little, maybe ~7m units before it turns 2.

[QUOTE="APiranhaAteMyVa"]

Yes, sales continue to decline and there is no sign of them improving.

The 50 million number for the DS is off, it took 3 years, the 3DS is currently 22 million after 2 years. It is unlikely to match 50 million in just over a year, but it isn't as far off as this report suggest.

I think after this first Vita holiday Sony will access the numbers then look into a new strategy either dropping the price or improving bundles.

SuperFlakeman

3DS is 22m after 1.5 years, with only 1 holiday.

The 22m figure is from Sep 30. Two more quarters to go, and a holiday season. If we look at the forecast and guess a little, maybe ~7m units before it turns 2.

with all the sales talk around here you would hink everyone was a stock holder

Yes,its awful for a system itself But tbh,its no surprise.The handheld market is slowly disappearingTwoFace-BS

Link

Bad, no. Horribly bad, hell yes.

And LOL@original article. It's not that bad because the other guy sucks too!!! Horrid logic.

Just wait guys, if we keep at it and plow more time, money and energy into it we can move from dismal to mediocre. Hell yeah, just what Sony needs right now...another product sucking up resources with a dismal to mediocre return.

As a gamer it is worrisome too. The thing is tanking in terms of 3rd party support and you will not see a rush of people to develop for it unless/until its install base is significantly larger.

That means Sony has to divide its own development resources ever more to try to prop up the Vita because they are the only one who can...which diverts even more resources away from PS3/4.

The only way to lessen that effect is to work on things that are cross Vita/PS3 platform...but that doesn't differentiate the Vita. Which doesn't give as strong a reason to buy one.

It is the circle of mediocrity.

SUD123456

with all the sales talk around here you would hink everyone was a stock holder

Jonwh18

If a game sells will it will guarantee a sequel in that series.

The 3DS was selling bad too when it first came out at around $250. No too many people are going to shell out that much money for a handheld. 3DS price goes down. It starts selling like mad. Sony should really follow suit and drop the Vita's price to around $199 or $189. They also need to get a hook game out now. That new AC game isn't it IMO.

with all the sales talk around here you would hink everyone was a stock holder

Jonwh18

Those sales are horrendous.

Overpriced and not a single game that compels me to own a Vita.

Well, no it is not a bad thing, but it is WAY under expectations.

I'll just say it. The Vita have very few games worth owning the system for, so that it sold 3 mill is however low it may seem, fairly good in my oppinion.

THey did expect to sell alot more of the systems then that, and the 3 mill have not even begun to cover their cost of the thing. That said, I doubt alot of people suspected it to sell faster. Give the system a really good game, and wait X-mas.

Pretty much my way of saying that while it is lacking the sales sofar indicates that it might end up doing well.

The 3DS was selling bad too when it first came out at around $250. No too many people are going to shell out that much money for a handheld. 3DS price goes down. It starts selling like mad. Sony should really follow suit and drop the Vita's price to around $199 or $189. They also need to get a hook game out now. That new AC game isn't it IMO.

COVAtheNOVA

Cow tears are so delicious.

[QUOTE="Jonwh18"]

with all the sales talk around here you would hink everyone was a stock holder

Nintendo_Ownes7

If a game sells will it will guarantee a sequel in that series.

[QUOTE="Nintendo_Ownes7"]

[QUOTE="Jonwh18"]

with all the sales talk around here you would hink everyone was a stock holder

rjdofu

If a game sells will it will guarantee a sequel in that series.

Yes. 3m is really low... the first year is usually the year a console sells the most.... so if 3m it's all it could do then... ouch.

When you consider that nearly half of the sales were made in it's launch period (between *** launch on Dec 17 - first week of NA sales Feb 28) then yah the sales are awful. Selling only around 1.6-1.8 million units throughout the rest of the year is really bad, but I guess there's still Christmas.

Sony repeated the launch problems of PS3 with Vita. It's embarrassing how they never seem to be able to learn from their mistakes. Vita's price point is way too high and the proprietary memory card is ludicrous. It's like having a cell processor and a UMD drive all in one a la the Playvitation3. Kjranu

Given its power, I have no problem with the price point of the Vita, especially when you compare it to the 3DS which is less powerful. The thing that turned off most people(myself included) is the cost of the memory card. Why in the hell are memory cards that expensive? Even better, why don't they use a common format like SD cards or even continue using the Memory Stick Pro Duo that the PSP used?

And you're right, they had over a year to learn from Nintendo's botched 3DS launch along with the issues that hurt the PS3 and they blew it. After seeing Nintendo botch the 3DS' first few months so badly, that they had to slash the price why would Sony make many of the same mistakes? If Nintendo of all companies had trouble, then why did Sony think they could get away with overpriced memory cards and a drought of games?

I like the Vita. I played a demo unit, and it's a damn impressive machine. But at this point, there are too many factors that are keeping me from buying the system. I want it to succeed. It will help the market if Nintendo does not have a monopoly in handhelds, especially since there are several things about the 3DS that I don't like(namely the eshop and the horrible glut of shovelware that pops up on there)

But at this point, I just bought a PSP and decided to catch up on the games that I missed. Sony needs to turn things around with the Vita, and it will take more then Call of Duty to do that. It's an impressive machine that has great potential. People seem to forget the 3DS' struggles before the price cut. And yet, Nintendo managed to turn things around.

I think a price cut and some killer games will sell the Vita, especally if the system is closer to the 3DS' price range.

It will pick up in sales as time goes on. Its a quality product.GunSmith1_basic

Nope.

It's selling worse atm than the barren summer period. Worse than Dreamcast. No support / pricecut within reach.

wut

[QUOTE="GunSmith1_basic"]It will pick up in sales as time goes on. Its a quality product.SuperFlakeman

Nope.

It's selling worse atm than the barren summer period. Worse than Dreamcast. No support / pricecut within reach.

wut

I'm very glad that I did not get caught up in the hype and buy one when it had just came out. I think Vita is doomed because the market it needed (adults with deep pockets) has moved on to smartphones. Nintendo will hold on with the 3DS a while longer because they have the children market squared away for now, however with cheap Android tablets on the way for $80-150 being marketed to kids, it's only a matter of time before Nintendo has to leave the handheld business too, even if the 3DS still has a few years of life still in it.Timstuff

I'm very glad that I did not get caught up in the hype and buy one when it had just came out. I think Vita is doomed because the market it needed (adults with deep pockets) has moved on to smartphones. Nintendo will hold on with the 3DS a while longer because they have the children market squared away for now, however with cheap Android tablets on the way for $80-150 being marketed to kids, it's only a matter of time before Nintendo has to leave the handheld business too, even if the 3DS still has a few years of life still in it.Timstuff

There are no facts to support any of your claims/predictions.

Facts that exist say you're wrong on every point.