Sony is celebrating today, with news that the PlayStation 3 is now outselling the Xbox 360 by 28 per cent, a complete turnaround from a year ago, when Microsoft's console was way out in lead.
Between June 2009 and 2010, Sony managed to sell 14.3 million PS3s, compared to 10.3 million Xbox 360s sold, according to official figures released by both companies.
The main reason for the role reversal seems to be Sony cutting the price of its console and also offering a slim version.
Testing times
Although Microsoft is still in front when it comes to overall sales of the consoles, this lead has been trimmed significantly to just 3.6 million.
These are interesting times for the two gaming giants. Both are close to releasing motion-sensor gaming (PlayStation Move and Kinect) which should stretch out the life of the consoles and Microsoft has only just released its Slim version of the Xbox 360.
So it is not clear cut that Sony will actually ever overtake Microsoft in terms of console dominance - although it does have an extra card to play and that is 3D gaming.
It will be interesting to see what the next 12 months bring.
Via VG247
Your comments (19) Click to add a new comment
cowbell
August 4th
19. Genuinely think Sony really have the potential to become something very special, very soon. The number of quality games is thankfully improving, and the Move controller is certainly a much more enticing prospect than Kinect. I'd been holding off an getting a PS3 for a while now (the only console I haven't bought yet), but as soon as the Move bundles come along, I'm on board. Interesting times - as Gibbon has said, it's fantastic that this hardware generation has been such an unpredictable journey. As gamers, we haven't had it this good for a very long time IMO.
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gibbon
July 31st
18. I think it's an interesting point made about the purchase of PS3s.
Are there figures out there relating to game sales also?
Since that's how the consoles make their money perhaps that should be the marker for success?
Surely the games sold per unit should be used to guage their success? Or would that simply favour the older Xbox? I'm possibly overthinking about this now.
At the end of the day I think it's just quite nice to see some good close competition with the consoles this gen, after 2 generations of undeniable dominance by a single leading console it's refreshing. Although I suppose you could argue that the Wii has done it time time...
Oh and I don't own all the consoles, just an Xbox, but don't hold it against me. ;)
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ibanezlewis
July 30th
17. I love how si-smith is such a moron.
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irongiant
July 30th
16. Doctordoom, the only thing useless is your entire post! Those figures are real, get over it.. it's only a console for pity's sake, are you this concerned if Nike outsell Adidas???
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si_smith
July 30th
15. I love how all these Xbox fanboys claim to "own all 3 consoles" to try and give their Xbot spin some credence.
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doctordoom
July 30th
14. I am an owner of all 3 consoles. The last game I bought for PS3 was MGS4, it gets used from time to time for playing video files and Blu-Rays thats all. Since I got a WDTV box it hasn't been touched. Xbox 360 is used purely for gaming and it's used loads, Xbox Live is streaks ahead of PSN, the controller is one of the best ever released, perfect fit for most hands. Wii get used by my little sister.
There are a few things that render these figures useless.
1. PS3 has a Blu-Ray, I expect a high % are purchased solely as a BR, I know that's why I got mine, it was the only updateable BR player when it was released. I know this doesn't change the fact that they've still sold them but if there was a way to calculate consoles sold for gaming the PS3 sold figure would be much lower.
2. These results are from June 2009-June 2010. In that period, Xbox suffered market saturation while PS3 released the cheaper slim which helped them sell a tonne. Now that Xbox S has is out, and older models have had their prices heavily reduced, Xbox sales have risen 1000% (http://www.itproportal.com/portal/news/article/2010/7/22/uk-sales-xbox-360-consoles-surge-1000-percent/) even if that figure is not exact, it shows a massive increase in sales, oh an look, it came out just after June 2010 and is therefor not included in these results.
"Following its release in the US after its E3 unveiling last month, stats from VGChartz predict the 360 Slim sold in excess of 250,000 units. Initial UK sales figures for the console suggest it equaled figures from the 360’s original launch back in 2005."
The article above even says 3 million shipped in last 3 months, showing its all to do with price cut and slim console. If they do an August to August the 3.6 million gap will widen to at least 4 million again if not more.
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