PS3 Seeing Stronger Pent-Up Demand, Shortages Possible

[Shin-Ra]

(relevant to North America)

PS3 Seeing Stronger Pent-Up Demand, Shortages Possible, says Analyst
Posted September 15, 2009 by James Brightman

Since Sony dropped the price on PS3 to $299, launched the new model PS3 Slim and kicked off an appealing new marketing campaign, sales have really picked up, both here (up 300% at top retailers) and overseas. In fact, according to Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia, PS3 hardware appears to be ahead of market expectations this month.

"Our channel checks show that PS3 hardware sales remained strong in the second week of September following very strong sales in the first week of September. The first week of September saw a 300% lift at top retailers according to Sony. Our checks suggest stronger pent-up demand than expected. We now believe PS3 hardware sales in September have the potential to be up as much as 75% y-o-y versus our most recent upwardly revised expectation of +50% y-o-y. We believe this is stronger than market expectations," he said.

If Bhatia's right, some consumers could even have some difficulty finding the PS3 by the end of the month - a stark comparison to the post-launch months when PS3 boxes were sitting, collecting dust on store shelves. "We believe PS3 sales for the month of September could be up even more than our estimate of +75% depending on supply. Our contacts indicate that while PS3 supplies are currently normal there is risk of shortages by the end of this month," he said.

Not only is Sony gaining some steam going into the holiday season, but Bhatia indicated that PS3 sales do appear to be eating into Xbox 360 sales - music to Sony's ears no doubt. "In contrast to the PS3, our checks show that hardware sales of Xbox 360 have shown only a slight lift of around 5% to 10% following its recent price cut. We attribute this to the fact that Microsoft’s lower priced Arcade model remained unchanged in price at $199 while the Elite model, while lowered by $100, really just replaced the Pro Model (which is being phased out) at $299. In addition, given our checks on the PS3, it does appear that the PS3 is picking up some share at the expense of the 360," he said.

We're going to be very curious to see what NPD's September figures show us next month. It's going to be an interesting battle this holiday for sure.

[Bizdady]

!! I might get another just because! My wallet is already going to hurt with Ratchet, Uncharted, NBA2K10 CE, Modernwarfare 2 PE, GoW plus so many more games in such a close span!

[Stephie_is_a_dork]

Way to go PS3! Knew you could do it!

[Shin-Ra]

I haven't preordered anything yet (except Uncharted 2 for the beta)

[Bizdady]

Originally Posted by Shin-Ra

I haven't preordered anything yet (except Uncharted 2 for the beta)

Im using ECA discounts so it helps a bit. So If I make any sales on old BDs or PS3 games I send that towards the balance for the bigger priced games (im staring at u Night Vision goggles!!)

[TL OWNS U]

The only way people wouldn't get a PS3 now is if your a microsoft biggot

[Idealsupra]

I love how M$ AND Nintendo lowered their consoles prices again to try to make up for the Sony price lowering and its still not helping.

Sony is going to take over this Xmas. Book it.

[TL OWNS U]

Originally Posted by Idealsupra

I love how M$ AND Nintendo lowered their consoles prices again to try to make up for the Sony price lowering and its still not helping.

Sony is going to take over this Xmas. Book it.

WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT, nintendo lowered the price of the Wii?

[ZedsDead]

The tortoise may just beat the hare after all.

[Marine Mike]

Originally Posted by ZedsDead

The tortoise may just beat the hare after all.

I do not think anyone has gone as far as to say that PS3 will out sell the Nintendo Wii in overall sales. As I wouldn't consider the XBox 360's sales as to the PS3's to be considered a good comparision to a hare.

[Idealsupra]

Originally Posted by TL OWNS U

WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT, nintendo lowered the price of the Wii?

Yeah it's $200 now

edit: well I saw it marked as new low price somewhere but it may have just been a sale but I could have sworn I saw a commercial for it too... Amazon still says 250 though... Hmm

[Batman1980]

I've noticed this, NONE of my local stores have them anymore really, figured it was due to demand exceeding supply.

[STARSCREAM]

Originally Posted by Idealsupra

Yeah it's $200 now

edit: well I saw it marked as new low price somewhere but it may have just been a sale but I could have sworn I saw a commercial for it too... Amazon still says 250 though... Hmm

It will be in TOYS R US ad next weekend. It was posted on CAG. Price dropping to $199.99, should be everywhere.

[ZedsDead]

Originally Posted by Marine Mike

I do not think anyone has gone as far as to say that PS3 will out sell the Nintendo Wii in overall sales. As I wouldn't consider the XBox 360's sales as to the PS3's to be considered a good comparision to a hare.

I was talking about the 360, it debuted first and has had strong numbers until recently from what I have seen. Also, there was a lot of talk about how the ps3 sales were sluggish, they had no exclusives, multi-platform games are better on the 360, and so on and so forth. This year it seems like the slow to start ps3 has found the after burner switch and probably won't be looking back for a while.

The Wii is pretty much untouchable in terms of console numbers, but I'm willing to bet their software sales are not all that strong right now. I have a wii and haven't turned it on in a long while, the only game that has come out semi-recently imo that looked promising was Mad World, other than that I wished I could have talked the wife out of "needing" to have one.

[Blu Titan]

Awesome news! The PS3 is the best gaming console in the world.

[Blu Titan]

Originally Posted by STARSCREAM

It will be in TOYS R US ad next weekend. It was posted on CAG. Price dropping to $199.99, should be everywhere.

A price drop of $50 from $250 to $200 is not as significant as going from $400 to $300 and introducing a new design. Sure the Wii will be #1 in console sales, since it has wider appeal. However, I am looking forward to the PS3 establishing itself in second place for Q4 2009...from there who knows?

[Icemage]

That's interesting (and good) news all around.

I refuse to get excited about the numbers until the NPD reports for September come in however. Will be interesting to see if Sony can maintain the spike in sales into the holidays - if not, it's certainly not for a lack of trying, between an excellent ad campaign, and the best software lineup for the holidays.

[DonRSD]

whoever wanted a wii bought one.....their current sales are horrible as there is no content for that system
the wii was a fad and is now fading away

the 360 started out strong but has faded recently
who in their right mind would buy a $199 arcade to then buy all the accessories?
who would buy a $299 360 and then have to pay for xbox live, wireless internet AND HAVE NO BLU RAY PLAYER!?!?

i have a 360 & ps3 and i havent touched the 360 in months.

the ps3 is taking over.....xbox 'wii fad' NATAL wont save them.....they need a new system but it will be years before they can reintroduce another xbox.
reg xbox lasted what.....4 years....lol

[Terjyn]

I don't know how you'd call the Wii sales horrible. Nintendo is still making money hand over fist. Not many other companies are(off the Wii), but N certainly is.

[DonRSD]

ttt