Arstechnica: Don’t read too much into the PS4’s million day-one sales

shinra-bansho said:
The article implies the Xbox One, and really any console, is likely to sell "similar healthy numbers" given adequate supply. A statement/implication that doesn't really stand up to scrutiny.

The Wii U was not supply constrained as the article implies, for instance, as readily evidenced by Nintendo's shipment information. In general the Wii U comparison people bring up is poor, there's no way to determine when sales began to collapse to the point where it was selling like 11.5K/week in January.
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PS3 also wasnt that much supply constrained either, right? I vaguely remember people taking pictures of available stock in December?
 
Kleegamefan said:
Xbone is launching in 13 countries, for them to do worse than Sony they would have to sell through less than 100,000 Xbones per country..


Its an interesting tactical strategy employed by MS and will, for sure, play into the hands of the anti-PS4 shills and downplayers...

The salt fallout from GAF will be epic once this happens, no doubt :)
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Chances are MS is shipping to their largest most receptive markets first. So they most likely will sell out of what they have available.
 
spwolf said:
PS3 also wasnt that much supply constrained either, right? I vaguely remember people taking pictures of available stock in December?
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At launch it did. If you remember Sony got ripped pretty hard because they had a lot less then they allowed pre-ordered(they didnt have many to begin with). After this fiasco is when you saw available PS3's. Their shipping fuck up coupled with their price point is what hurt them at the early parts of the ps3.
 
spwolf said:
PS3 also wasnt that much supply constrained either, right? I vaguely remember people taking pictures of available stock in December?
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They may have had some initial teething problems, but for the quarter it wasn't supply constrained. Sony shipped 1.7M units to the Americas and Japan in CYQ4 2006. They only managed to sell through under 700K in the US so maybe 750K in the US+Canada, and about 450K in Japan. So there was still ample supply in the retail channel.
 
baxter2231 said:
Great response was thinking the same thing.
These sites and journalists are such a joke, they seem to exist solely for gaf amusement at this point. There isnt a crumb of integrity left.
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You would think the actual decent journalists would be upset at their peers for making a mockery of their profession.
They sure do seem to hide that anger well.

Granted, it would be unprofessional for one to call out their peers for - well, being unprofessional - but probably not if they took the high ground about it.
I know I'd be livid. And not in the Schreier "don't generalize all of games media because I put out good articles" sort of way, either. I'd be downright embarrassed and incensed.

Some emotion would be nice. Podcasts would seem to be a good outlet for that sort of thing.
These shills are mortgaging the integrity of ALL games journalists every time they publish a one-sided article and then trash their readership as obsessive when they point out its inaccuracies.
The wagon circling in social media has got to stop as well.
 
KoopaTheCasual said:
It will be very interesting to see the reactions. MS, will probably ship over million easily, since, as you've already mentioned, 13 territories in 1 day. Will people be fooled into thinking that means MS is "winning" this console war?

It's funny, this makes it very obvious why Sony has avoided saying "this is the biggest console launch in history" when they opened in NA. They know MS would come back 7 days later and claim "ours is bigger!" Sony was very careful with their wording of their achievement: 1 million consoles, sold to consumers, 24 hours, single territory.
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I would be shocked if they have 1mil consoles ready for those 13 territories. We heard about yield issues from CBOAT that got drowned out by incorrect down clock rumors. I would not doubt if they allocated most of their stock in the places they were successful last time and put out limited "paper launch" quantities in those other 11 countries. Plus even if they have them out there are they selling? They couldn't even sell out pre-orders that require no financial commitment. When people actually have to drop $499 on this thing it might be a different story. Everyone assumes everything will sell out but we already saw that the PS3 did not sell out, neither did the WiiU.
 
animlboogy said:
Twitter. These guys treat it like a fucking bar filled with their friends.

I believe culture will catch up. A couple more Adam Orth's and these people will start acting like professionals in public again.
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I love this post. I have had it up to here with these so-called "journalists" pissing on the great unwashed masses which they depend on to read their unfiltered garbage. They're like little immature children and I want to smack them them upside their heads and teach them to give their readers some respect. I understand that no matter what they say trolls and imbeciles are going to send death threats their way, but it doesn't mean you treat the public at large as if they were one and the same.
 
KoopaTheCasual said:
It will be very interesting to see the reactions. MS, will probably ship over million easily, since, as you've already mentioned, 13 territories in 1 day. Will people be fooled into thinking that means MS is "winning" this console war?

It's funny, this makes it very obvious why Sony has avoided saying "this is the biggest console launch in history" when they opened in NA. They know MS would come back 7 days later and claim "ours is bigger!" Sony was very careful with their wording of their achievement: 1 million consoles, sold to consumers, 24 hours, single territory.
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You're still working under the assumption Microsoft can muster a million units. Whats notable about the PS4 million sell through is that they manage to get all the logistics down to make more than a million units.

Since the camera is a pack in; they require more components. More points of failure in the supply chain and more manufacturing capacity is required. Beyond that they also seem to have less time and rushing things is a recipe for disaster.

Nintendo had first mover advantage and no time constraints and only managed 400k units.
 
The fact that they assume the sales of the PS4 are based primarily on high supply is one of the most comical comments ive seen.

Downplay demand.

The PS4 isnt really popular because people wanted one, they had to buy them to get through their front door. Those fucking things were everywhere. I had to buy seven myself to get my car out of the garage.
 
jmdajr said:
Eh?

Xbox didn't take off because it was new to the game and Nintendo lost a lot of goodwill from their cartridge fiasco. Granted Halo helped but neither had enough to convert the Sony faithful that generation.

Arrogant Sony is basically why PS3 had such a horrible start. It's taken a whole generation to forgive.
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That makes no sense. Sony was new to the game in the 90s and quickly became the dominant leader. Nintendo did the same thing in the 80s.
 
GopherD said:
The fact that they assume the sales of the PS4 are based primarily on high supply is one of the most comical comments ive seen.

Downplay demand.

The PS4 isnt really popular because people wanted one, they had to buy them to get through their front door. Those fucking things were everywhere. I had to buy seven myself to get my car out of the garage.
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:lol I'm very interested to see what happens next week after the Xbone launches. Will journalists be fair and balanced and report the news as it falls or will they continue this ridiculous downplaying?
 
Anticitizen One said:
That makes no sense. Sony was new to the game in the 90s and quickly became the dominant leader. Nintendo did the same thing in the 80s.
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Sony came in with buzz, hype, power and games. Their competitors also made some miscalculations and missteps.

Microsoft came in with a lot of skeptics and an audience that was thirsty as hell for more PS2.
 
shinra-bansho said:
They may have had some initial teething problems, but for the quarter it wasn't supply constrained. Sony shipped 1.7M units to the Americas and Japan in CYQ4 2006. They only managed to sell through under 700K in the US so maybe 750K in the US+Canada, and about 450K in Japan. So there was still ample supply in the retail channel.
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so basically they sold 750k for the Q4 in the USA.

What was the launch in Europe like? I have a feeling that for Q4, Sony will probably easily double PS3 sales (compared to launch in Europe+USA).

Those are pretty nice numbers that dont need to be downplayed.
 
GopherD said:
The fact that they assume the sales of the PS4 are based primarily on high supply is one of the most comical comments ive seen.

Downplay demand.

The PS4 isnt really popular because people wanted one, they had to buy them to get through their front door. Those fucking things were everywhere. I had to buy seven myself to get my car out of the garage.
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"Sony employee admits having forced to buy 7 consoles per employee to pad sales figures. Is Sony selling a con?"
 
unbias said:
At launch it did. If you remember Sony got ripped pretty hard because they had a lot less then they allowed pre-ordered(they didnt have many to begin with). After this fiasco is when you saw available PS3's. Their shipping fuck up coupled with their price point is what hurt them at the early parts of the ps3.
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"Sony’s previous version of the console, the PS3, sold 197,000 consoles in the first month after it was released in the U.S. on Nov. 17, 2006, NPD Group, which tracked sales of video games and consoles, said at the time."

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-...laystations-in-north-america-in-24-hours.html

They actually shipped 300,000 and sold 197,000. There isn't infinite demand at console launches, which is one of the assumptions of the ars article. It's a silly assumption.

You may be confusing them with Microsoft who pulled the trigger before they had adequate units or bad allocation and had both a shortage for pre-orders and some retail units which were quickly snapped up.
 
Wynnebeck said:
:lol I'm very interested to see what happens next week after the Xbone launches. Will journalists be fair and balanced and report the news as it falls or will they continue this ridiculous downplaying?
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At this point, I simply hope they're not incompetent.

Disregarding potential bias or whatnot, one thing I see occasionally from the press is how insulated they are. Tech journalist talking about iPhones like everywhere in the world has the USA plan models. Talking NPD instead of global sales.

A more global perspective is welcome.
 
vcc said:
"Sony’s previous version of the console, the PS3, sold 197,000 consoles in the first month after it was released in the U.S. on Nov. 17, 2006, NPD Group, which tracked sales of video games and consoles, said at the time."

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-...laystations-in-north-america-in-24-hours.html

They actually shipped 300,000 and sold 197,000. There isn't infinite demand at console launches, which is one of the assumptions of the ars article. It's a silly assumption.

You may be confusing them with Microsoft who pulled the trigger before they had adequate units or bad allocation and had both a shortage for pre-orders and some retail units which were quickly snapped up.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3_launch

The PlayStation 3 was launched in United States on 17 November 2006. Presales on eBay reached a high of just over US$170500 on November 17. During its first week of release in the United States, PlayStation 3 systems were being sold on eBay upwards of $2000. It was originally announced that there would be 400,000 units available, however less than a week before launch reports emerged that Sony did not meet its shipping quota in time, resulting in about 40% of systems not appearing at launch. It is not known exactly how many systems were available on launch day. As the initial release price topped $300, the PlayStation 3 console was sold out during the first day.
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It's just weird that the fact that sony was able to ship 1 million units to a single market is so easily swept under the table. That seems like a big deal to me and should be lauded.
 
There is just no reason for this article to exist unless it is to placate Xbox fanboys, which Ars Technia has no business doing in the first place.
 
Yeah, sure.

Let's not read into the biggest day 1 sales event in console history, and the system is sold out everywhere.

Clearly it doesn't mean anything. What a joke.
 
DragonSworne said:
Why are people assuming Xbox One will have more than 1 million units ready for launch?

The system is supply constraint, isn't it?
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Best time to make the claim that if Xbox one had the same amount of supply that it would have the same amount of demand, at the same pace.
 
animlboogy said:
Twitter. These guys treat it like a fucking bar filled with their friends.

I believe culture will catch up. A couple more Adam Orth's and these people will start acting like professionals in public again.
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Amen, the immaturity we are seeing from these "professionals" is getting a bit disturbing. They are using their twitter accounts, associated with their business, company or website where they are employed, and acting so immature, even being borderline condescending and offensive "consoletards?"


I really hope we have another Adam Orth situation so this will open up some of these "gaming professionals" to the fact that they are employees of a business/company and cannot act like they are in their buddy's back yard drinking beers.
 
DragonSworne said:
Why are people assuming Xbox One will have more than 1 million units ready for launch?

The system is supply constraint, isn't it?
Click to expand...



I think because they delayed it in 8 countries or so. If their original plan was indeed 21 countries at launch, cutting it back to 13 really does open up those 13 countries to more consoles to purchase.

I honestly would be shocked if Microsoft didn't ship 1,000,000 consoles to North America. I predict we will hear something from one of their 5 or so PR figures about "Microsoft has shipped over 1,000,000 Xbox Ones for Day 1 Launch, making it the most successful Xbox Launch in history!"


We know the difference between shipped and sold, but the media and general public do not. Also, the way some of these "gaming journalists" have been acting lately, I am worried they really don't understand as much as they want us to think they do. They will take a story like that and run with it.
 
I don't think journalists like to be proven wrong. PS4 is a 7.5 system with no games and wobbles.

NPD is going to be really really fun next month.
 
To me the article sounds less about downplaying Sony's landmark sales, and more about making a preemptive excuse for the Xbox One's likely lesser sales come release.
 
Does,MS really have a million for NA though?

Their PR on more than double the 360 pre-orders, ( first month NA sales for 360 was 350k), and all the store allocation reports always paint a,picture of MS being very stock limited compared to Ps4.

I'm expecting around 700k for NA, and 300-400k spread out for other countries.
 
Nightengale said:
Does,MS really have a million for NA though?

Their PR on more than double the 360 pre-orders, ( first month NA sales for 360 was 350k), and all the store allocation reports always paint a,picture of MS being very stock limited compared to Ps4.

I'm expecting around 700k for NA, and 300-400k spread out for other countries.
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The tell will be if they announce how many units they sold, or if they talk about revenue and attach rates, so as to avoid direct comparisons to Sony's figure.
 
GhaleonEB said:
The tell will be if they announce how many units they sold, or if they talk about revenue and attach rates, so as to avoid direct comparisons to Sony's figure.
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Not like it'd matter since, by Ars example, it'd just mean more room to catch up and exceed expectations. Something only possible if you don't do exceedingly well at launch..or something.
 
GhaleonEB said:
The tell will be if they announce how many units they sold, or if they talk about revenue and attach rates, so as to avoid direct comparisons to Sony's figure.
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If they talk about what they shipped and don't mention sales then they deserve to be ripped for it. Their PR is dumb enough to try that crap too.
 
There's no way in hell MS announces shipped numbers. Unless they are extremely desperate for a cheap headline. They should stick to their gun and post sales numbers. Even if it's lower, 700-900k would still be very respectable.
 
The players who bought the PS4 don't have time to read into this; developers who are busy making games for the PS4 don't either; guess who's left?
 
Killing_Joke said:
There's no way in hell MS announces shipped numbers. Unless they are extremely desperate for a cheap headline. They should stick to their gun and post sales numbers. Even if it's lower, 700-900k would still be very respectable.
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Companies don't do things like PR half-heartedly.

They're either transparent, honest and detailed... or they're ambiguous.
 
Killing_Joke said:
There's no way in hell MS announces shipped numbers. Unless they are extremely desperate for a cheap headline. They should stick to their gun and post sales numbers. Even if it's lower, 700-900k would still be very respectable.
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Chances are you'll see meaningless-but-impressive-sounding "X millions of dollars in Xbox One software was sold at launch, confirming that Xbox One is *the* choice for gamers" press releases.
 
The sad part is that the main point of the argument is true, launch is not indicative of future success.

The problem is that they completely downplay the incredible day 1 record and it's possible implications. Selling 1 million in 24 hours doesn't mean that Sony won the game, but it means that Sony will be competitive in North America, a market that the Wii and the x360 dominated last gen. Being competitive in a market that adopted its competition last gen will have huge effects on marketing strategies used by Sony, Nintendo, and MS.
 
ionicbluebird said:
There is just no reason for this article to exist unless it is to placate Xbox fanboys, which Ars Technia has no business doing in the first place.
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Agreed. It was the biggest console launch in history and for some reason this journalist feels like it is necessary to downplay it?
 
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