So is this the part where we start making excuses for next gen?
Because those are some pretty ugly numbers for an industry that's supposed to be growing.
If you'd like, there are pretty good "excuses":
Sony air-freighted a significant portion of their December production into US/UK distributors to get as many consoles on the shelves over the holiday as possible. It's worth noting this does
not somehow create more consoles than there would have otherwise been, it just means that consoles that would have been arriving a week or so later arrive today. That means that if you stop air-freighting, you have a "debt" of one week of production that has to be paid before your supply line normalizes again.
There is also strong evidence (NPD vs. WW numbers) that their shipments over the holidays were, for various reasons, tilted heavily toward the US/UK; probably primarily because these two countries have a larger holiday "boom" period for sales than most territories. Based on what we've heard from GAF members in places like Australia, the supply droughts in many territories are leading to waiting lists stretching into March and beyond. It's quite reasonable to assume that - if they're smart - Sony has begun to distribute their stock more evenly post-holidays to prevent such long-term shortages, especially now that in North America you can generally get one inside of a week or two if you're patient/persistent.
Add to that they are preparing for their Japanese launch - a launch in their home territory - which they are going to want to accumulate a reasonable amount of stock for. A portion of their current production is almost certainly being set aside (a few hundred thousand, at a minimum) rather than shipped to stores to ensure a large and successful Japanese launch in the coming weeks.
So, the first week of January production is basically nulled due to the air-freight. The last week is basically nulled due to stockpiling for the Japanese launch. The middle two weeks likely saw a more even split of stock between North America and other territories. You end up with less than half the number of consoles shelved in the country during the month, which is going to make your numbers plummet even if you sell through your stock instantly at retailers.
Any questions?