Sony’s (SNE) new Playstation 3 sold 600,000 copies in the first two days it was available in Europe. In its first full month of sales in Europe, Microsoft (MSFT) Xbox sold 500,000 units and Nintendo Wii sold 700,000. This would seem to be an indication that the Playstation, although more expensive than its rivals, may end up being more popular that pundits had imagined.
According to the FT: "Microsoft, which has had a year’s head start over its rivals, had sold more than 10m Xbox 360s globally by the end of last year. Gartner expects that by 2009 the PlayStation will have outsold both the Xbox 360 and Wii as more games are created for the machine." This is somewhat against the conventional wisdom that had the Wii out front with a lead that was not going to be challenged and the Xbox reaching a level of popularity that would keep the PS3 from ever becoming a rousing success.
Based on the PS3 failure theory, Sony would have to rebuild as a company using its movie studio and consumer electronics businesses. Game platform contribution would be a thing of the past.
But, maybe not.
Douglas A. McIntyre
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