Sony announced some positive news (finally) when it proclaimed that it has met the goal of shipping 2 million PS3s worldwide for 2006. The only downside to the news was that Sony missed its self-imposed target by a little over two weeks and reached its goal "as of today, January 16, 2007," according to a statement released by Sony at the Consumers Electronics show in Las Vegas.
Sony estimates that the PS3 is even more popular at launch than either the PS1 or PS2. Sony said, "Compared to its predecessor PlayStation platforms, PS3 is the fastest to reach cumulative shipment of 2 million units worldwide."
Recently, Sony took issue with NPD Group’s data indicating that the PS3 didn’t fare as well as the competition during the December shopping season. David Karraker, head of corporate communications at Sony, rebutted the report by saying, "NPD doesn’t account for Canada…[and] doesn’t cover all of our USA retailers. We sold…more than 150,000 systems the last week of December, so there were many units in transit or at retailer’s backrooms waiting to be put out [before the end of 2006]."
Recent reports of unsold PS3s at retail outlets have some Wall Street analysts concerned. But others see the news of Sony meeting the shipment goal as a reassuring sign that progress is being made towards becoming the best selling game console of the new generation. Hirokaza Hamamura, publisher of Famitsu (Japan’s largest game magazine), stated to the Associated Press that, "Any product selling at about 85 percent can be considered a hit."
The controversy over the PS3–whether it is a genuine hit or not–is fueled by numbers that are contradictory in nature. Industry watchers indicate that the PS3 has fallen short of its projected numbers, while Sony claims the numbers are misleading or outright wrong. Regardless of which numbers are correct, the real condition of the PS3 will be much more apparent once a steady supply of PS3s and high quality games are available at retailers.
