Official Holiday 2006 console sales figures don't surprise

Well despite the fact that CNBC recently reported some erroneous figures regarding console sales for this holiday season, it looks like the official numbers still show a resounding Xbox 360 victory among next-gen systems during the month of December. Official stats being published by The NPD group show that Microsoft sold 1.1 million of its boxes last month, followed by Nintendo with 604,000 Wiis, and PS3 bringing up the rear with 491,000 consoles sold. It's not all bad news for Sony, however: when we add in all systems sold during this time period (not just the three that everyone has been fussin' and fightin' over), the overall king of Holiday Season 2006 was actually the PS2, with 1.4 million systems pushed out the door. Sure these last-gen boxes can be found for much cheaper than their newer counterparts, but at least Sony is making a profit off of them, unlike the $300+ it's losing on each 20GB PS3. We'll leave the analysis of these numbers to the experts (a.k.a. fanboy commenters), and simply note that we were way ahead of the curve on this one -- we picked up Holiday 2006's most popular console way back in October 2000.

[Harry Bawls @ Jan 14th 2007 11:25AM]

Sony sucks. Nintendo 4 ever!

[Richard Lai @ Jan 14th 2007 11:33AM]

RIP Sega

[Brian @ Jan 14th 2007 11:36AM]

Wow... those figures are actually better than I expected! I knew the PS3 would be left in the dust, but I expected a near-tie between the Wii and the 360.

Way to go Microsoft! Now get me a GOOD MMORPG! (And a marketplace expansion pack for Gears of War) (And a 100+ GB hard drive for downloading all those hi-def movies I'm going to buy in the marketplace) (And a shooting game with a light gun) (And integrate Zune Marketplace into my 360) (Oh, and hurry up and get Halo 3 out the door :P )

[Zadillo @ Jan 14th 2007 12:02PM]

I think if Nintendo could have met demand, they might have been able to sell more (I know, duh... :) I can at least tell you I'm one person who would have been a sale during Holiday 2006 if I could have found one (and I already own an Xbox 360). By the same token, I can say that I wouldn't have been a sale for a PS3 (I think I will get one eventually, but even now that I've seen them sitting around at local stores, I just haven't been able to justify buying one yet since the games I'm looking forward to aren't out yet).

[Lemmiwinks @ Jan 15th 2007 6:43AM]

>>PS3 would be left in the dust

Hardly - 604K is only 23% more than 491K. MS is the winner in this round of the Nexgen 'battle'.

[h0mi @ Jan 14th 2007 12:52PM]

I don't have a zune but I definately agree with the zune marketplace idea. If I could stream podcasts I downloaded off itunes into the zune marketplace to my 360, that would be fantastic. Imagine being able to buy videos off zune marketplace OR XBLA and swap them between your 360, computer and zune player. (that might motivate me to buy one).

[Mattso @ Jan 14th 2007 11:38AM]

Definitely no surprise, especially now that I have to officially eat my words after recently seeing a whole crate of PS3's sitting in my local (very busy) Best Buy. I really was skeptical for a while when everyone was talking about PS3's being so readily available because I guess it just took my area a while to catch up on supply overcoming demand (NJ is, after all, the most densely populated state in the US). When I was there, a few people (me included) gave it a quick look and thought about it, but I know that the price is what kept me from taking the plunge. I'm still holding out and suffering console-less until things pan out, but I can tell you that the 360 V2 is looking like the current favorite.

[Annoula @ Jan 15th 2007 12:47AM]

I think the Wii would have done far better if you could have FOUND a wii. Got a friend that works near the nintendo store in NYC and he's been checking there when he can. Meanwhile in the densely populated region of connecticut you can't find a Wii. The guy at best buy just shakes his head at me before I even ask if they have them in stock.

In my search for the Wii, I found about six or seven stores stocked with a good number of PS3's. Also, ever store I went into had plenty of XBOX360's. Availability may have something to do with the numbers.

[Someone @ Jan 14th 2007 12:17PM]

Seeing how well Gears of War helped XBOX 360 sales, Sony really needs to have a killer ap. soon to get consumer interest back into the PS3. The problem that Sony has with the PS3 is that it doesn't have a gimmick that has got consumers interested into the console, while the Wii has the WiiRemote gimmick and the 360 has the Gears of War/Halo 3 gimmick. Sony needs a gimmick...NOW!

[Mike @ Jan 14th 2007 12:36PM]

Ah, but Sony is the only one that is trying to rely on a gimmick.

Personally I'll wait for the PS3 to proove it's worth. I'm far from an early adopter and I need to know I'm getting my moneys worth before I take the plunge.

Currently the PS3 is the biggest risk.

The 360 already has established a solid lineup of games and combined with a great online service that makes for a solid gaming experience.

The Wii is cheap enough that I wouldn't think twice about buying one. It's gimmick is the controller but it is simply a mechanism to provide unique fun gameplay.

The PS3 offers blu-ray and impressive specs. Numbers don't make fun games though. It's gimmick doesn't provide anything more than bragging rights. This wouldn't be a big deal except that it now has to compete with the aforementioned library of games for the 360.

[humpty @ Jan 14th 2007 12:31PM]

The biggest news here is that Nintendo missed their sales target for 2006. They said they were shipping 2 million Wiis to NA.. but, that figure is in the 1.1 millin range. A shortfall of close to 50%. Theres no excuse for this, the Wii is infinitely easier to manufacture than the PS3.

And, strong sales of PS2 is good news for nintendo. It means that quite a few people are perfectly satisfied with last gen graphics and capabilities.

[Scholmo @ Jan 14th 2007 4:07PM]

not that it makes up for much, but N said 2M to NA, not USA. AFAIK, NPD only tracks USA numbers, though I don't think there were another 900k in Canada/Mexico (did it even launch in Mexico?)

[peters @ Jan 14th 2007 1:23PM]

Guys, simmer down. There is a lot of FUD going on in these comments. Let's see if I can cut through some of it.

1) BOTH systems use a Blue Laser - in fact the laser is almost identical, it is the focusing optics which are different as HD-DVD uses the middile layer (like traditional DVDs), where BD uses the top of the disc (thus requiring a "coating" layer to deter scratches).

2) While BOTH systems support MPEG-2, MPEG-4 and VC-1, Sony is a STRONG promoter of MPEG-2 and Toshiba is a strong supporter of VC-1. Where almost all HD-DVD titles use VC-1, most BD titles use MPEG-2. Exceptions on BD are when the same title is on HD-DVD and the VC-1 encoded video is simply transfered to a BD disc, or when the disc is a Japanese encoding which generally uses MPEG-4. MPEG-2 is undeniably the weakest of the three codecs, and is one reason for image issues still with some BD titles.

3) BD titles can use 50gbs per disc. This is single-sided dual layer. However, due to the fact that there is a VERY high failure rate for these titles, they have to be basically done by hand (this is why the PS3 packing was TN on a BD-25 (high-volume) where the release was BD-50 (low volume). HD-DVD has just announced 51gb per disc for replication later this year. This will be a single-sided triple-layer disc and "should" play in existing players (this is one of the design criteria). In addition, this new spec also allows for much higher bit-rates.

4) While 120,000 or so HD-DVD add-ons have been sold for the XBox 360, we can assume that 100% of those are for watching HD-DVDs. If we assume about 10% of the PS3 units sold in the US are primarily for BD watching, then we get a number of about 60,000 PS3s used primarily for BD. If we extend that to another 10% used for casual watching of some significance, then we are at the same 120,000 units - ergo a wash at best.

5) The current "hack" to decrypt HD-DVDs is the same for BD discs as this is a circumvention of the AACS encryption through a software player which plays BOTH HD-DVD and BD discs. The additional security features of BD do nothing here, as they are aimed at stopping mass duplication (pirating from Hong-Kong) of BD discs. In this case they are irrelevant.

6) Yes, people who want Spiderman 1-3 or Pirates 1-3 will have to purchase BD. However, just the same, those that want Harry Potter 1-7 or Lord of the Rings 1-3 or the Matrix 1-3 will have to buy HD-DVD. The number of studios issue is an irrelevancy if you want a single title which is exclusive to the other format. In that case you will need to own both.

As to my bias, as I said, I own and support BOTH formats. However, I am more than a little upset with the false technical information that the BD camp has spread in its FUD marketing campaign. This has turned me off, being technically minded about this stuff, to their cause (from a technical perspective).

Issues are:

1) 1080p vs. 1080i (from film source) there is no difference. Also, BOTH formats are encoded exactly the same way - 24 frames progressive and can output exactly the same data.

2) MPEG-2 is the equal of VC-1 for High-Def content. This is simply not true. VC-1 has been shown time and again to be the single best codec for HD content, but Sony refuses to use it (as they would be forced to include Microsoft in their royalty stream - and Sony has not VC-1 tools of their own). http://video.ldc.lu.se/pict/WM9V-MP4AVC-MP2V_comparison-Goldman.pdf

3) Blue Ray has "Won the War" simply because they have shipped in a great number of PS3s. Look, the PS3 has already been a generally acknowledged failure. They will have one chance to redeem themselves with the March Firmware Update they have promised, but to date they are dead last. http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/14/official-holiday-2006-console-sales-figures-dont-surprise/ and it seems that BD may have a lot to do with this (through artifically raising the retail price and dramatically increasing the loss Sony takes on each unit sold).

So, there you have it.

[Coil @ Jan 14th 2007 2:11PM]

Have you ever worked in marketing? You are really trying to spin things towards the positive for HD-DVD, when the news IS NOT POSITIVE.

[Alan Strangis @ Jan 14th 2007 2:53PM]

@ peters:

I gotta agree with your summary. VC1 is definitely a better codec, but people are going to be driven at least in part by titles they want (and nobody's gonna get everything in either BR or HD). The studio I work for has both players, and personally, I think that EITHER would be good for consumers, but until the dust settles, I'm holding off.

@Coil:

With the announcemnt that the pr0n industry doing HD DVD only, I wouldn't say that the news is ALL bad for HD-DVD.

Before you laugh, don't underestimate the power of pr0n to drive markets in one direction or another. pr0n made VHS king, the lack of it had an impact on LaserDisc penetration (yeah yeah it's a pun), was a major influence in video codecs online, and is still (one of?) the most successful business online. I imagine they'll also be big in the IPTV space once that starts to get standardized.

Sony's unfriendly stance towards pr0n will probably be a major blow :o to Blu-Ray in the general consumer marketplace.

[Leonard Nimrod @ Jan 14th 2007 3:49PM]

To say the PS3 is a failure as console has no baring on it as High definition player when no other player comes with a high-definition optical drive.

Between the PS3 sales (+100k) and the market advantage with optical burners over HD-DVD (not to mention the excessively higher capacity) makes Blu-ray the current leader.

[XiozTzu @ Jan 14th 2007 1:25PM]

The article points to Sony production problems stifling demand? What production problems? Didn't they have a bunch of left over stock? Sounds more like a demand problem.

[StevO @ Jan 14th 2007 1:40PM]

Well if you REALLY take all the numbers into account, not just sales for the consoles as you usually think of them, it's actually the DS Lite that comes out on top. I think it was 1.6 million, but I'm not really sure.

[Joshua @ Jan 14th 2007 1:47PM]

@peters: Wrong post?

[IrishGandalf @ Jan 14th 2007 2:36PM]

Ha! PS2 best console ever! It Owned the xbox and now it's Owning the 360, I just hope that when us Europeans get our hands on the PS3, the PS3 will have overtaken the "last gen" wii, and caught up with the 360. I'll admit that the 360 is a good console graphics wise, but still I'm holding out for the PS3.

[Jonhimslf @ Jan 14th 2007 3:06PM]

How much of PS2's sales can be attibuted to Guitar Hero 2? I know more than handful of people that picked it up in the last little while just to play that game.. I know that is not at all representative of a larger group, but was just wondering what others though.

[rtms @ Jan 14th 2007 3:06PM]

That gimmick for the PS3 will be Metal Gear Solid, but that only comes in the 4th quarter next year for christmas sales. Until then they have no really cool games, or gimmick toy out there. I have a feeling the PS3 will be dying a slow death.

[0ndsk4 @ Jan 14th 2007 3:28PM]

This is a GAME CONSOLE article - not a blu-ray vs. hd-dvd. Is peters on acid? That post is strange, as Blu-Ray has all the momentum right now - studio-wise, title-wise, sales-wise, everything-wise...

And - back to the subject - selling lots of PS2:s doesn't hurt sony a bit. Thus far, they sell the PS3s they can produce, and besides of making profit for sony, every PS2 buyer gets used to owning a PlayStation console. Surely, when it's time to upgrade, he'd chose a PS3, so he'd still be able to play his PS2 Singstar or whatever.

The continuously strong PS2 sales will be what makes Sony take home this nextgen console war as well. In three or four years the PS3 will be dirt cheap, with 100+ million PS2 owners who're going to upgrade.

[carnifex2005 @ Jan 14th 2007 5:22PM]

I'm sure that's what Nintendo thought before the Playstation came.

[steven @ Jan 14th 2007 11:08PM]

we should all support U S products Microsoft and Apple

[deedubya @ Jan 14th 2007 3:52PM]

Please explain why no one uses the headline ( this includes uncountable web sites):

PS2 beats all the console sales in December.

Isn't THAT the real news? A 6 year old console beats out XBOX 360?
PS3 and Wii numbers don't MATTER, they couldn't manufacture enough to meet demand, that scews the numbers.

You can't trust anything you read, no matter where you read it (engadget included)

[Boris @ Jan 14th 2007 3:59PM]

HD-DVD news are negative? How so?

[Jason Brown @ Jan 14th 2007 4:44PM]

The biggest mistake made by Sony is the shipment of over 2/3 of the product in to the US market. By flooding certain demographics with too many consoles and not enough elsewhere you get numbers that favor other consoles. Canada on the other hand has not received a shipment from sony since the release. Everyone of them sold and will sell out when next shipment arrives. Wii is not a next gen console and has in fact lost big time to ps2. The 360 is just barely doing ok in sales they only saw half of the consoles sold for the year leading up to christmas. Now they are making everyone wait another year for Halo3. To make it worse they leaked info on a upcoming console that all but halted sales of the 360. The obvious lie given afterwards was to get people to buy again and nt wait for the newer console. Everybody lost in some way and unfortunately people read the articles on this site to make decisions. The writers here are a bunch of fanboys and can not be considered reliable.

[Juise @ Jan 14th 2007 4:54PM]

Having already complete my Tri-Force (meaning I own the PS3, 360, and Wii) I would say the 360 has already taken the "Next-Gen" Title. Live is what console gaming has been missing! Now we just need the Dev's to wake up and start making at least 2-4 player Co-Op story mode part of every game! While the Wii-mote is a good idea I find myself not playing the Wii as much simply because I don't want to hop around my living room just to play Zelda!

Graphically I don't think there will be any titles on the PS3 that can't be done on the 360, or vice versa. But there will be some must have exclusives on the PS3 that will make it worth the money for me. Not to mention I got a Blu-ray player out of it too.

Speaking of Blu-ray, I think I will end up getting the HD-DVD ROM for the 360 too. Like the PS3 it's the cheapest way into the format, and I can use it on my PC.

Just my $0.02

[Danny Go @ Jan 14th 2007 5:14PM]

hahaha only 604.000 Wiis, nintendo sucks!!! Sony is doing great for such a expensive console

[2Perfect @ Jan 14th 2007 6:01PM]

Can't really say it wasn't expected. Although I thought Wii and 360 would be a lot closer.

I might get a PS3, but not anytime soon.

[Moakmatulak @ Jan 14th 2007 7:29PM]

Is anyone really surprised by these figures? Honestly? Of course the PS2 came out on top, its cheap and it has a shitload of games out that almost anyone can enjoy. The 360 is second in consoles because its been out for a little over a year now and it has a multitude of original titles that people are interested in, not to mention live. The wii came third because everyone wants to try their "revolutionary and new" game play. PS3 came last because right now it offers nothing. Nothing at all, too pricey and too few games, and most of the ones that are out have been out for a while on either PC or the 360 so no one cares.

@deedubya, youre not paying attention. There isn't a high demand for the PS3, I can walk down the street to my local EB and get a PS3 right now. Hell, I could probably get five of them, but I'm not going to. Its too expensive and it offers nothing that I care about outside of Metal Gear Solid 4 (which is rumored to come to the 360) and like I said before, of course the PS2 came out on top. Shitload of games and only a hundred dollars vs. lots of games and 400 dollars. Its not that hard to see what parents will buy.

[Jamie @ Jan 14th 2007 11:31PM]

After all the hoopla I cannot believe the wii only outsold the ps3 by less than 300,000! Unbelievable!! If that wasnt bad enough, Sony had to sell the most console with their ps2, a console they make tons of profit on! Niceeee. Sorry, fanboys stop taking all this stuff so personal. If sony makes money it doesnt mean your wii is bad. For me all the consoles have their uses:
Wii - family to play with
Xbox - Online live play
PS3 - Centerpiece of my Home theater/game room. You lay a print on it and you will...

[JV @ Jan 14th 2007 9:10PM]

"We'll leave the analysis of these numbers to the experts (a.k.a. fanboy commenters)"

It's like Evan can see into the future.

[jon_collins_hfx @ Jan 14th 2007 9:12PM]

No one I know is even considering a PS3. I am a casual gamer like most other people and the ps3 offers me nothing compared to the 360. PLease Blu-ray. WTF Blu-ray?? Who cares?? DVD is great and besides that is OLD School thinking compared to the only true next gen system the 360 which is forward thinking in it's downloadable media. Please Bluray - WTF?

[Slamjo B @ Jan 15th 2007 4:58AM]

OK some people have this all messed up....
I work in Sales at Futureshop and i have seen the holiday madness myself. 1st we sold more xbox 360s than anything else, then DS Lites, Thens Wii's, then PS2's followed up by PS3's, and least of all PSP's.
2nd iwork in home theatre and get to see and play with blu-ray and HD-DVD everyday. HD-DVD Blows Blu-ray out of the water, VC-1 is a much better codec, the HD-A2 loads in less than half the time of samsungs player, has an ethernet card built in for downloading new firmware(blu-ray players do not). The HD-A2 is also the best upconverting player for standard dvds on the market giving atleast 20% better upconverting than samsungs unit. Not to mention that Hd movies and regular dvds can be put on one disc to play in HD player or standard. HD-DVD is less than HALF the price. When comparing the 2 side by side HD-DVD looks better hands down. Just ask anyone at my store and they will say HD-DVD is better.
3rd the PS3 is really lame(i have all 3 new systems) The launch titles suck, the graphics are definatly better on the 360, the controller doesnt have a removeable batter(without taking it apart that is) Online play is better on the 360. and at Futureshop 1 in every 5 PS3 that we have sold has come back defective.

OF all 3 units the PS3 is the only one that i will not consider next gen. The 360 has good online play good graphics, good games. The wii has revolutionary controller and great party play with friends and family, not to mention very addictive.

I have owned all 3 sony systems now and i am very disipointed with the PS3, im going to sell mine and maybe one day when they actually have good games i will buy it again. As it stands now 659.99ca for the PS3 is a total waste of money not ever worth buying. Do yourself a favor if you havent bought it already... DONT BUY IT. Spend your money on something more usefull like a Citizen Eco-Drive, cause once i sell my PS3 thats what im going to do.

[jack @ Jan 15th 2007 6:03AM]

"OF all 3 units the PS3 is the only one that i will not consider next gen"

You lost all credibility there buddy. And yep, I work at gamestop as a quality inspector, actually I don't work there. Just trying to show you how easy it is on the internet to work at ANY company at ANY position I like to back any fanboy claim I spew out. Now hear the truth from someone that actually owns all three; THEY ARE ALL AWESOME!
If you have the money get the ps3, trust me, dont let the fanboy pissing contest confuse you. If you are short on cash get the 360. Want something for leisure play, get the wii. Have the cash? definitely get all three. Dont bother sending thank you notes, your smile is enough for me.

[Schwinn @ Jan 15th 2007 3:01PM]

The real question is how many PS3s and Wiis were actually AVAILABLE for sale for the stated term. Saying that Sony or Nintendo "only" sold X or Y units is pointless, when the issue was that the demand was initially greater than the supply. This is why the 360 and the PS2 sold so many - because they were AVAILABLE.

Once the availability questions are resolved, THEN you can blindly look at sales figures. Otherwise, you are just lying to yourself.

I am no Sony Fanboy... nor Nintendo, nor MS. All I ask is that people look at the FACTS rather than make judgments based off a flawed study/statistic.

[willieboy @ Jan 15th 2007 5:11PM]

Are these numbers for here in the U.S. only... ???? I know that the U.S. is the only piece of land on earth. I was just curious....

[Halfcabbage @ Jan 15th 2007 9:53PM]

-$300 per console at 491,000 consoles= -$147,300,000.

great marketing strategy, sony.