PS3 overtakes Wii in Japan
Weekly-sales winner announced
Sony's PlayStation 3 outsold Nintendo's Wii in Japan last week, figures from local market watcher Media Create show.
Some 55,924 PS3s were purchased in the week ending 11 November, compared to 34,456 Wiis and just 5817 Xbox 360s. Clearly, the Halo 3 effect and Microsoft's price cut have done their work.
That's a marked change from the previous week, to 4 November, when the 360 outsold the PS3 17,673 to 17,434.
So while the 360's sales fell by more than two-thirds, week on week, PS3 purchases increased by a massive 220.8 per cent.
The real winner in the Japanese console arena, however, was Nintendo's DS, which was purchased by 78,884 punters. The PSP was second in the chart, having notched up sales of 58,964 units - only 3000 more than the third-placed PS3.
Yesterday, figures covering the same week in the US showed PS3s sales jump to around 100,000 units on the back of a $100 reduction in the price of the 80GB model and the introduction of the 40GB version of the console.
COMMENTS
@Shane McCarrick
"Ps- No shortage of Wii's here in Dublin either........"
eh?
What??
As far as I'm aware theres a MASSIVE shortage here.
(A quick squint at boards.ie (irish gaming site)'s nintendo section shows a rake of ",,I cant find a wii anywhere posts ")
No games shop in Dublin/Cork seems to have the damn things, and I know at least 4 people who just cant get hold of one and are having to fall back at paying well over the odds buying one online from the likes of komplett??
Wii is still the winner
still playing on my Wii more than any of the other consoles - last month Super Paper Mario took my evenings - and now its been joined this weekend by Super Mario Galaxy - a very very good game.
the PS3 is still awaiting some fresh new titles - I expect next february will be interesting
the XBOX 360 has a constant stream of good games (though most are PC games) - but its a mature platform in the 'next gen' arena. PGR4 and Bioshock being prime gaming moments so far this half of the year.
Wii "shortage"
The whole thing smacks of a cheap marketing stunt. By faking a shortage, they make their console look more desirable, at least in theory. In my case the inability to get hold of one when I had the money led to me buying a PS3 instead. Either that or Nintendo just have one of the worst logistics records in the world.
Problems shipping from the continent
I'm not sure that the reported problems shipping from the continent are anything to do with Nintendo. If you have a browse around a lot of multinational sites- including the likes of Promod (womens cloths) you'll see that blocks have been put on shipping a wide range of goods from France/Netherlands (haven't checked elsewhere), over the last 10 days or so, to Ireland and the UK. Shipping companies like TNT are also quoting vastly increased delivery times. Conspiracy theorists bedamned, its more probably something to do with all the strikes in France, Germany, Italy etc- than Nintendo strong arming its local distributors......
Ps- No shortage of Wii's here in Dublin either........
Is shipping clamp-down legal?
With all the EU laws on trading accross Europe, is it even legal to refuse to ship to the UK from another EU member state? From the 12th December this year, an act governing EU wide consumer rights comes into effect http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/rights/index_en.htm. Included is this:
(2) In accordance with Article 14(2) of the Treaty, the internal market comprises an area without internal frontiers in which the free movement of goods and services and freedom of establishment are ensured. The development of fair commercial practices within the area without internal frontiers is vital for the promotion of the development of cross-border activities.
Surely 'free movement of goods' means that suppliers have to offer to ship goods to any EU member country? It will be interesting to see what happens come the deadline. Perhaps EU countries are hoarding Wiis at the moment, because they know that come the 12th of December they won't be able to. A shortage of Wiis in the UK could lead to a shortage of Wiis Europe wide!
Also, it is worth noting that the EU now requires that a product bought in one EU state must be repaired in the EU country of the purchaser if the same product is available in that country also. http://www.pcmag.co.uk/computeractive/features/2187714/goods-abroad-safely-securely
In other words, if you buy a Wii in Germany and have it shipped to the UK, then Nintendo have to offer to have it repaired in the UK if it breaks.
