Anyone that knows me or has read my articles in the past knows I’ve never been one to back down from a conspiracy theory or even a strong hunch. I’m getting that feeling again and it’s related to how both Microsoft and the gaming press in general are reporting on Microsoft’s Xbox 360 sales. Something is starting to smell funny, and it’s wafting this way from Redmond.
Find out what I mean, after the jump.
Anyone can cook up a good conspiracy theory, or rumor. Hell, I’ve written how you can do it in past articles. What’s better than making up rumors? Dealing with facts. What are the best kind of facts? Facts straight from the horse’s mouth. Numbers are great too, because there’s so little room for interpretation. They are what they are.
Let’s talk about numbers, shall we? Not just any numbers mind you, but sales numbers. Sales numbers that show Microsoft sold 7.73m Xbox 360’s in calendar 2007. While Sony sold 8.83m PS3s during that same period. The sources of these numbers are Microsoft and Sony and so far out on “teh interwebs,” nobody’s denying any of these sales numbers… but for the sake of this article, I’ll spell them out and cite sources.
If you were to go back to January ‘07 and check out this video (at the 6:30 mark) you would see Microsoft’s Robbie Bach announce they sold 10.4 million Xbox 360’s as of December 31, 2006. If you read this UK GameSpot article, you’ll see that they claim to have sold 17.7M Xbox 360s through December 31, 2007. Major Nelson confirmed these numbers. A simple subtraction of 10.4 million from 17.7 million tells us that 7.3 million Xbox 360’s were sold in calendar 2007. Can anyone really dispute that? I don’t see how.
So, we know Microsoft (according to their own numbers) sold 7.3 million Xbox 360’s in calendar 2007, but if you look here you will see that Sony reported that they sold 8.83 million PS3’s in that same time-frame (a reminder that Q4 ‘06-Q3 ‘07 is actually the calendar year of 2007… or January 1, 2007 – December 31, 2007).
I make it no secret that I’m a big fan of the PS3, but I’m left scratching my head at this point. Microsoft sold fewer Xbox 360’s than PS3’s in 2007? They sold fewer Xbox 360’s in 2007 than 2006?! How can that be? Everything I read in the gaming press said how horribly the PS3 sold and how well the Xbox 360 sold… how can these numbers stand in the face of what we’re being told?
Was it because the 360 did not do so well at all in Japan? Was it because the PS3 outsold the 360 in parts of Europe and is trending toward outselling the 360 for the entire region for 2008? Was it because of that pesky Red Ring of Death issue they had to deal with… I wonder how significant that really was to their sales? They acted like it was “no big thang,” but if these numbers are accurate, then it may have been “THE big thang!”
See what I concluded on page 2…
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Microsoft has the money to pay for this kind of BS. However some of the blame has to go to sony as well . Why is sony not saying anything about this ? Why is the media picking on sony ?
Is it because the ps3 was suppose to sell twice that number ?
Very difficult to figure out what your point was, this was poorly written. But in my personal opinion I think the 360 did outsell the PS3 in 2007. People forget that the 360 was outselling the PS3 in Europe all yer long until then end of 2007 when Sony dropped the Price on PS3 yet again.
These were sold to resale and not to customers. Last Christmas Microsoft overshipped the 360 by a huge margin. Some estimates are by 2 million units and that is why they lowered the forcast after Christmas 2006 by 2 million units.
Microsoft did not make the same mistake this year. Several stores are still out of stock of Elites and Arcades. If you add the 2 million to the number sold this year, then Microsoft out sold the PS3 this year.
This is why the media has ignorned the ps3 outselling the xbox360.
America Xbox 360 10.72M
America PS3 3.75M
American media only cares about american numbers.
Numbers from vgchartz.com
I think that it might have to do with how the two companies tabulate their sales. I believe Sony counts a unit as sold when they sell it to the distributor; ie a few million PS3s sitting in warehouses and backrooms at EB or Best Buy are sold.
Microsoft counts units as sold when they reach the hands of a customer from the retailer. So if Microsoft sells 7 million units it means in 7 million sales, whereas with Sony 8 million units may have only sold-thru 4 million to customers.
I wonder if this posting will be deleted again, first one went away…
i think its probally the other way around dude microsoft counts red ring of death replacements as a sale for gods sake
HEY, WHO CARES?! as long as we keep playing games what does it matter? Fanboys make me sick.
“American media only cares about american numbers.”
So, you are kicking yourself in the ass?
If the Americans just care of the American numbers, that means the Xbox360 is a hit just in America?
Consoles depends on global numbers, ALL the American consoles failed due the low number of global sales, the PS3 came one year late, but if even with one year late and “no games” the PS3 is kicking the 360’s ass, then the 360 is doomed.
I feel sorry for the Xbots and 360 fanboys who buyed an outdated piece of hardware.
Next time please credit our site for your information. youve used the very same information that i posted at http://www.gameblews.com/?p=6116 from a few days ago. A little credit for your basis doesnt go amiss.
360 is crap. I bought one at launch because I’m a diehard gamer and couldn’t wait the extra year for the PS3. But in that year the system broke twice. The second break took 5 weeks for a replacement. I even had the NYCO intercooler on that one…it melted itself on the back of the system. FU all if you hype the 360. Sell it back to Gamestop and get a PS3.
So far as I know both companies report units sold to retailers (except for Wal-Mart which is a very different case). It could be market saturation in the U.S. I have no intention of buying another 360. I have one (four in our household). I’ll not be buying another one.
I think for gaming the real question is gaming. What games are gamers buying and for what systems, and how many games do gamers buy. I know people who want a PS3, but only because they’re getting a game console with their blu-ray player, and they already have a 360 for doing their actual gaming on. This is a win for Sony in that they can point to PS3 sales numbers and make their blu-ray position even stronger.
However, with an attach rate far greater than the PS3’s, the 360 is still winning the gaming console war, because at current attach rates the PS3 has to have an installed base four times that of the 360 to become more attractive than the 360 to developers who care most about selling software. I think the PS3’s attach rate will go higher, but whether it will go higher than the 360’s is anyone’s WAG, and certainly any opinion on it is a WAG and not a SWAG.
Kalroy
@Tweep, the article went live early and was pulled. All (3) comments were list during the repost.
Say your comment is true, did Microsoft sell more 360s in 2006 than 2007? I mean we’re comparing their numbers to their numbers then.
@Kaz: Feel free to write a guest article for me to critique!
j/k
@Patrick: I’m sure you’re right, Sony’s not where they _want_ to be, I’m not sure I’d “brag” either.
@Patrick: The media usually doesn’t need much of a reason to write about stuff… they write about crappy and obscure games ALL THE TIME, you’d think there would be a story in someone outselling the Xbox 360 for the year wouldn’t you? Hell, I’d expect a story or two if the numbers ended up being close by Sony fell _short_ of beating them. I’m still confused why none of the big sites are reporting on this.
@Kaz
The PS3 outsold the 360 in Europe in every week of 2007 it was out. EVERY WEEK.
Both consoles where very head to head the entire year world wide with the 360 selling a little more week by week. But the Euro launch was very big and moved more than 1 million consoles very fast.
At the end of November the PS3 started outselling the 360 and it has done that every week since in world wide numbers.
@Dean: You know what, you’re absolutely right… when I went looking for anyone anywhere covering this stuff, you guys were the ONLY ones I saw reporting on it but frankly (and no disrespect needed), I’d never heard of your site and didn’t consider you as what I labeled the “gaming media”.
I did learn of the Robbie Bach YouTube video on your site, but didn’t cite your site because it wasn’t your video. There was no intent to snipe a story, rest assured. I will add a crediting link to the end of the article for good will.
360 is hurting the game industry. I read an interview about how Devil May Cry 4 was going to have more moves and upgrades, but they got to a point where they ran out of room…wonder what they were talking about? Capcom is a 360 whore anyway.
Many thanks Sean, your very kind. All the best, and great website!
Man.. The attatch rate is so high because microsoft releases the same Stale shooter that they know will sell to the mindless masses who think a game is running and shooting and violence with no story. I myself am not going to buy into mediocrity. And i know alot of ps3 fans Like playing quality games not just every shelf filler.
microsoft want your money. they dont care about games. they want to pump you with Digital Downloads and be the next format. and make more money. Its going to be like robocop one day. they already ignore morales. Im just waiting for them to build that stupid robot and cut corners and have him shoot them up.
the fact mircosoft had the worst failure rate in anything ive ever seen says that they already failed this generation no matter how many morons keep rebuying their system. (you can subtract 100,000 console sales because they are people who willing to rebuy a system)
And tweep its the other way around microsoft calculate through sales to companies.
You aren’t the only person who has talked about this. Also, the biggest place that the PS3 is trouncing the 360 is in Japan. No disputing that whatsoever. The PS3 sold I believe somewhere around 1.2 Million PS3’s and the 360 sold maybe 200-250K. There’s your difference right there.
MS is doing okay in the US and probably will for a while to come, but in the EU, Sony Country, MS is fighting like a kindergarten girl. They are not really serious about winning or even beating Sony, at least not in my eyes. If they were, maybe they would pump that ridiculous 44 Billion dollars on something in the video game world rather than on Yahoo. 44 Billion dollars and they couldn’t lock up Bizarre or Bioware? Are you freaking kidding me?
When this gen started I was convinced that MS was going to come out boots stomping completely squared in on winning this war. I own all three and have significantly more games for the 360, but I think this year, the tide is almost assuredly going to change.
1080p. HD-DVD and Blu-ray are the only discs that play 1080p. But since the 360 doesn’t play HD-DVD discs for games it’s not true 1080p. The 360 Elite with HDMI is just a digital signal. The 360 is a rip off. Buy your wi-fi…buy your online…buy the latest PS2 game in 720p and brag that you got all the games 360 owners. Losers.
Those numbers are all sold to retail. All that means is Sony flooded the market with their consoles. Look at the NPDs for sold to customer numbers and the 360 sold over a million more consoles than the PS3.
@ Tweep:
Sony’s numbers are what they have shipped to storage Warehouses.
Microsoft’s numbers are what they have sold to retailers.
It is very likely that MS did outsell or at least keep even with the PS3 in 2007 due to this fact. The numbers for America show the 360 outselling the PS3 almost 2:1. And even if it did start outselling the 360 it still has a long way to go. At 8 million units behind, to catch up in 2008, they would need to sell what the 360 sells and an additional 666,000 units.
E.g if MS sold 200,000 units worldwide in January then Sony would need to sell 866,000 units worldwide. I highly doubt that will happen.
Lol…not to be a fanboy here….But all the 360 lovers are trying to make peace now with us PS3 people….Saying “Who cares, as long as we get to play our games”…..4 Months ago it was “HAHAHA the PS3 is selling like crap ahaha, the PS3 sux and will be the new Dreamcast”….Not so fast there silly man
…and finally, the media. Who? IGN? They are funded by Microsoft (Team XBOX) . And the other sites are partially funded thru advertisements. These media workers would lose there jobs like that one guy who did from a poor review.
Actually Sony record a “Sale” as an actual sale , not a shipment to retail or warehouse.
This is clearly written in their financial report
see:
http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/financial/fr/07q3_sony.pdf
To anybody pointing out the sales to consumers versus sales to “the channel” angle…
Do you realize these numbers say Microsoft sold more 360s in 2006 than 2007? Doesn’t this surprise the hell out of you?! It did me…
Bud:
Ummm, you do understand that 1080P visuals have nothing whatsoever to do with the media in question right? PC games have been able to run at resolutions upwards of 1080P for quite some time, and they were running on cd’s and dvd’s. Does the larger storage capacity help with the size of 1080p textures, of course. But you don’t need a Blu-ray disc to run a game in 1080p.
As for the media? Ummm yeah, I see just as many ads for PS3 games as I do for 360, so thats a load of crap.
And MS selling less 360’s this year then last…yeah i would definitely agree that’s not a good thing. I’m guessing that in some respects the whole red ring thing really did slow down peoples will to buy the system.
MS really needs to think long and hard about how they plan to combat the PS3, because they are going to be looking at Sony through the windshield and not the rear view here soon.
This is a pretty sad attempt at journalism. Could Playstation fans be any more outrageuosly pathetic? The PS3 had 2 $100 price drops last year and the xbox had 1 $50 price drop on one sku and less than that on others. A newer product with such huge price drops should have significantly more demand, this is why you fail and the PS3 fails. I love you playstation fans, I really do. Your ignorance brings me much joy. Not to mention that the xbox significantly outsells in America where people have the money to buy games and support there systems. Sony selling a console to some third world country that does not have the knowledge of how much better the 360 is, does not mean as much as an american who buys a lot of games buying a 360, this is why you all FAIL.
Can we stop the fan wars? Seriously, I came to sarcastic gamer because I though you guys were more intellectual than that (sarcastic sure, but fanboyishly bashing each other?)
I’m a 360 owner. I love the selection of games that I have on it. I don’t care which system “wins” at this point, it isn’t like EITHER is going to do a sega system and just die. And if the Ps3 (or Ps4) comes along and impresses, by all means I am JUMPING SHIP.
There is no allegience in the gaming world (or, rather, there shouldn’t really be). I myself want a Ps3, but my budget won’t allow. When my parents upgraded to high def, I told them to get a Ps3 because it is the cheapest blu-ray player out there.
Don’t worry I already ended and shut them up.
What is all this “after the jump” crap? Every little 2 bit website is doing it these days.
WHY? There was no “jump” in this article yet the author used the term.
Arggggggggggggg…it sounds so stupid.
@ Smarter than any Playstation fan
Are you saying that price drops are bad? As far as i know a company dropping the price of there console is a good, smart move and in no way makes them “pathetic”.
I would also like to point out that I am no PS3 fanboy and like both systems pretty much equally (so far) but your blatant bashing of Sony just makes me sad for you.
Oh, and are you calling China/Japan 3rd world countries?
Redfiat, Sony told VG Chartz directly that they were using shipped to retailer #s.
Those are NOT sold to user #s.
I think people have been not thinking through numbers they see. They see the UK, and see CoD4 for the 360 outsell the PS3 version easily, and they think this means the 360 must be outselling the PS3 hardware wise each month. Of course they don’t think about the extra time the 360 has had to increase it’s install base. The fact of the matter is, the PS3 has easily been outselling the 360 each month in Europe. People hear the 360 still sells more 360s each month, and doesn’t bother to think by how much, and then forget the rest of Europe.
The PS3 outsold the 360 in Europe (even in 9 months), and easily in Japan as well. Enough to make up the differences we’re seeing in the US each month.
Good article. Others refuse to except it, but it will all become even more clearer in 2008.
360 sucks. Deal with it.
Off-the-shelf PC parts from 2005 in console form.
Enjoy your wannabe mid-range PC, noobs.
@ Rothbart Absolutely, it does surprise me and makes me wonder where Microsoft is wrong. By your logic both number (06′ and 07) cannot be right and I agree with you completely. Then again, I don’t remember there being more than a few hundred thousand additional consoles sold around the Halo 3 “bump” that everyone was anticpating so maybe it IS possible that Gears of War and 2006 were a better year for Microsoft (remember the launch shortages that carried over too) than Halo 3 and all of the AAA games that were bought by those that already had their systems.
I was posing the question earlier on the first post that I wonder if this is a reason a former certain Microsoft bigwig is now a bigwig at EA instead.
Also, Rothbard, I apologize, didn’t mean to set the tone that you had deleted my first post maliciously (that wasn’t intended but it’s what I read also) sorry. Please keep your articles coming, even when we have a different take or experience they DO make people think and I think (my .02 worth) that’s a good thing.
@Smarter than any Playstation fan: I love how you simply accuse me of poor journalism with no basis for the accusation. Not to mention YOUR analysis is… well… ignorant. Sorry, I could come up with a better word for it.
@Craig: Um, you’re wrong. Go to the main page… there IS a jump…
“Your ignorance brings me much joy.”
Yeah… Anyone else want to comment on the amazing insight that this quote from “smarter” provides?
What if a couple million consoles are unaccounted for because a factory went rogue in China. These 360 militants threated to put consoles on the market knowly having defective parts to damage the name of microsoft.
Unfortuneately, Microsoft beat them to the punch by releasing more defective consoles of thier own, overshadowing the rogue factory.
BTW, I have a very credible and reliable and believeable source…so….
Gawd I love how the facts really bring out the stupidity in people…
Why does everyone keep saying the PS3 is the cheapest bluray player, it is not, Sony sells a standalone bluray player for 399 and Samsung sells one for 299, the PS3 is the best bluray player not the cheapest, it is the only bluray player that has even half the features of HDDVD.
interesting if the ps3 did outsell the 360 what a blow…
Still own both myself but my ps3 sees a lot more game time with free online r/fom ut3 and the greatest online game ever Warhawk I just couldnt be bothered to pay m$ more cash just to get yelled at by some angry yank playing h3.
Better games better service more stuff in the box its kinda hard to understand how the 360 competes. Then again h3 is good gears was one of the nicest games around when it came out and they had a year head start. All they have now is NG2 and fable2 both look good 2 but FF, mgs4, r/fom2(60 player online hell ya) let alone the multiplats like Fallout to compete with….
I suspect its going to be a though go for the 360 in 08.
THE MAIN REASON FOR ALL THIS PROBLEM is simply: There is a lot of expectation towards the PS3, it maybe due to the PS2 sales or just that every one knows that the PS3 is more superior as an all round game console.
SO THE CATCH is that due to this expectation, SIMPLY any sales or profit over the xbox360 that the PS3 brings cannot be smaller, equal, or slightly better, PS3 has to lead with a landslide before people will start giving it its proper CREDIT.
simply!
Uh, lest we forget, the PS3 was only launched in Europe – Its biggest market in the 2nd quarter of 2007, so the numbers include the “zero day bump”, even though it didn’t sell out . . . .
The other factor in there is that while Sony are willing to sell of bits of it’s company to afford PS3 price cuts, MS EDD is trying to make it through an entire year and declare a profit for the first time. Once that happens, the gloves should come off.
That and MS need to learn to deal with non English Markets.
the author of this article must be no older than 20 years and obviously has never worked in the games industry. besides that it clearly shows fanboy tendencies. gaming is a SOFTWARE business, consoles sell SOFTWARE. Look up the figures for sold software per console and even unexperienced (not to say noobs) ppl can see who is leading/dominating /winning this gen.
@ Insider: Instead of hurling insults, maybe you should re-read the article because the focus of the article is not to proclaim a “winner” but to simply show the evidence and draw a conclusion. More PS3’s were sold last year than 360’s.
Reading Comprehension FTW!
I guess the xbox 360 it’s selling less because everyone has one already, the gamers have been buying the thing for 3 years now. More people that you think have both or all three consoles, and that helps the ps3 sale numbers in 2007, where the first “good” games are coming out for the ps3.
What the bloody f*** are 360 fans doing?
Melting down like little babies.
IT’S OVER. 360 HAS LOST THE WAR.
In it’s first f’ing year in the market, not even a full year in europe, it raped 360 through and through. That was 360’s best year it will ever see. 2008 will see the destruction of 360.
Not only did sales decrease from 2006 to 2007 for 360, but I expect a dramatic drop from 2007 to 2008 with even less game releases.
PS3 games outsell 360 games in Europe and Japan, making up for the USA deficit, and that’s with 6 million less consoles.
End of this year, the PS3 will OVERTAKE 360’s LTD. Get that through your head Xbots. The LIFETIME SALES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And the price cut issues? Oh bububu $200 cuts!
Hmm, I thought it was only a sale price, and then after that it was not a price cut, and then finally it was a 100 price cut because you could get a PS3 in 2006 for 500. That was the FUD Xbots spread nicely and loudly. No changing it, you have to live with that, AND the fact that at a higher price and with less games, PS3 RAPED 360.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
SUCK IT DOWN XBOTS
*Gobble gobble “why microsoft why” *slurp slurp*
Jesus Christ. Fanboys, fanboys everywhere. Why do people have a hatred for other people who possess a console that they don’t have? Why do people CARE so much? It’s like getting angry because someone prefers different coloured trousers.
Jon Malloy lets do some simple math shall we. The PS3 came out at 600, it is now 400. Now if we take 400 away from 600 what do we have…. 200. Good work children!
No surprise here. The installed base of the 360 is coming to the step of maturity, while PS3’s still at the step of growth. 2 years or so release date difference. You know, products life cycles, economics, that kind of stuff
“pedantic” being my middle name of course 