PS3 sales up 130 per cent during Xmas

A Sony Computer Entertainment America executive has said sales of PlayStation 3 were up by more than 130 per cent during the festive period.

"We've had a solid holiday season and have delivered consistent growth throughout this year," said sales vice president Ian Jackson, in a statement to CNET.

He described 2008 as "a pivotal year for PlayStation" with "the best software line-up in the industry" on offer.

"Early internal data points to an increase of more than 130 per cent of PS3 hardware sales for the holiday season - since Black Friday - and we're also seeing a growth of nearly 40 per cent in total PS3 hardware sales for the calendar year," Jackson continued. "We remain confident this momentum will continue into the new year."

As the CNET article points out, PS3 sales were down by 18.8 per cent for November 2008 compared to the same month a year previously. Xbox 360 sales were up by 8.6 per cent, while the figure for Wii rose by 108 per cent.

But Sony said this was an anomaly, blaming "an abnormally strong month due to a price cut (with) the introduction of the 40GB PS3".