UK PS3 launch saw 10m in cancellations, still #1
Maybe it has something to do with Phil's adorable accent, or their slightly upsetting European This is Living ads, but Sony did a number on the UK. Not only did the PS3 manage to break the record for best-selling home console launch in its weekend debut (take that, PS2!), but PS3 titles like Resistance and Motorstorm are sitting pretty at the top of UK entertainment software sales charts. Toss some free TVs into the PR mix, and things may just be looking up, but what's this?
According to BrandRepublic, "as many as 20,000 pre-orders of the £425 console [were] canceled in the run-up to its delayed launch last Friday," totaling over £10m in lost sales! The same article quotes Nick Parker, an analyst at Screen Digest, who said, "This time next week we could be saying that the PlayStation 3 has been the most successful console launch ever." Uh, already true in the UK, Nick. So, widespread cancellations and the console still broke sales records? Then why are there still units on the shelves?
Let's not mistake a healthy supply of consoles to mean there's no consumer interest; the two may be related but, like everything, we imagine there's a great deal more going on than simple numbers on store shelves. Sure, there's no Wiis sharing the shelves, but that's because Nintendo (for some reason known only to them) can't seem to make enough of them (insert duct-tape wise crack here).
[Thanks, Dolla Dolla]
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