Microsoft: PlayStation business is heading south
Sony's console "haemorrhaging" at retail, says Greenberg
Microsoft mouthpiece Aaron Greenberg has taken another opportunity to attack Sony's PlayStation 3 business, suggesting the console is "haemorrhaging" at retail.
Speaking to Gamasutra, Greenberg said that PlayStation 2 owners are graduating to the Xbox 360 rather than adopting the new PlayStation 3.
"You can't underestimate that we're half the price of the PS3 at a time when consumers were looking for great value," said Greenberg following the latest NPD sales results for February.
"The PS3 was down in February two per cent even with the launch of Killzone 2 - that's months of year-over-year declines," he claimed. "Xbox continues to head north while the PS3 is heading south. We're gaining share."
"What we're finding in our research is that a large portion of the volume we're driving with Xbox 360 purchasers is actually PS2 owners choosing Xbox for the next generation. We're switching people from the PlayStation brand over to the Xbox brand."
Part of the attraction, says Greenberg, is the migration of franchises previously associated with Sony to Microsoft's format.
"Not only is [Resident Evil 5] selling more, but we did a limited edition Elite bundle with that as well - so we've obviously benefited from having this deep partnership with Capcom, and we're excited to have the Resident Evil franchise for the first time ever on our platform.
"That follows in the steps of Grand Theft Auto - and we all know Final Fantasy is coming - that have been historically associated with PlayStation."
The Playstation brand is as strong as ever. It just now has competition, competition that talks big but brings hardware failures and first person shooters. In Japan, there is no argument. For a system that was released an entire year after the 360, it's at what? 19 million? And the 360 is at what, 27 million? Sony is keeping INCREDIBLE pace with a system that is 100 DOLLARS more expensive. And with a 100 dollar price drop in the future (we all know it's coming), give me a break Greenberg...
There is obviously room for two (read: three) consoles in this generation.
Edited 2 times. Last edit by Terrence Newhook on 21st March 2009 4:29am
True it is selling just fine for console of its price tag but it is losing sales year on year while the other two consoles are gaining sales year on year. This fact is what Greenberg was pointing out.
As for the $100 price drop...I'm dubious it will be so dramatic. Whatever measures Sony has made to lower the BOM of the PS3 has been met with lower sales and a nasty exchange rate which doesn't leave much room for such a huge price reduction.
Let's not forget Sony's recent mantra has been profitability over market share. A drastic price cut nullifies any ventures into profitable territory.
What we may see is a continuation of what Sony has done all generation - value based pricing. Instead of physical retail price cuts, they'll introduce new bundles or possibly even new SKU's.
Your final point is completely valid. This is the first generation where on global scale 3 consoles have thrived. Last generation the Xbox shipped 24 million units and GC shipped almost 22 million. The PS3 is close to surpassing the GC's shipment total meaning all 3 current consoles are soon to sell above the bottom level of last generation and before the end of the year will surpass both second and third place last generation consoles. A very unprecedented generation is upon us.
Let's leave the arguing to the 10 year olds on their forums. I'm just getting tired of the trash talk.
Edited 1 times. Last edit by Terrence Newhook on 22nd March 2009 7:08pm