Unit sales of the Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 3 (PS3) were neck and neck in Australia in the quarter ending 31 March 2007.
Nintendo’s Wii console sold 28,000 units, while the PS3 sold 27,000 units, according to recently released figures from market research company Gfk Australia. By comparison, 20,000 Xbox 360s were sold.
The best-selling console games console by units sales was Sony’s elderly PlayStation 2, which sold an 48,000 units. The PS2 was followed closely by the Nintendo DS, which sold 47,000 units.
In terms of revenue, the AUS$999 PS3 was the stand out winner, generating AUS$27 million of sales revenue, compared to the AUS$399 Wii, which generated just $11 million of sales. The AUS$650 Xbox 360 generated $13 million of sales.
Interestingly, despite the higher price tags of the PS3 and Xbox360, Nintendo is the only company that actually makes money from selling its console. Both Sony and Nintendo loose money on each console they sell.
What should also be taken into account is that PS3 was not available for the full three months; it was launched in Australia on March 23. And it should also be noted that the Wii sold 33,000 units on its launch weekend in December.
However, all things considered, the good news for Sony is that despite the steep price tag of the PS3 relative to the Wii, Australian consumers are evidently impressed with what the PS3 has to offer.
As I’ve said on numerous occasions, it’s far too early to write off the PS3 - despite what some of the critics say.
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