Support NeoGAF

[damisa]

I decided to do some research into PS1 sales and I've found some surprising results:

The PS1 launched in Dec 1994 in japan
It took 6 months to sell a million there

The PS1 launched in Sept 1995 in NA
within two days it sold over 100 000 units

The PS1 launched in Sept 1995 in europe
It sold 350 000 units by Christmas 1995
It took 7 months to ship 700 000 units to Europe (march 1996)

May 1996
•SCEE bring down the price of PlayStation in Europe from £299 to £199
•USA: Price drops to $199 US Dollars
June 1996
•Japan: Price drops under 20 000 Yen. (SCPH-500) on sales (including 1 controller/SRP 19 800 Yen)

It took 21 months for the PS1 to ship 7.2million units (August 1996)
Japan 3.5 million
North America 2.1 million
Europe 1.6 million
So only 3.7 million units were shipped to NA and europe in 11 months.

It took 27 months for the PS1 to ship 12 million units (Feb 1997)
Japan 5.6 million units
North America 3.8 million units
Europe 2.6 million units

March 1997
•SCEE bring down the price of PlayStation from £199 to £129
•USA: PlayStation Game Console to retail for $149 and PlayStation software to be targeted at a MSRP of $49.99 or less

There's more here http://www.absolute-playstation.com/api_faqs/faq20.htm
and since these numbers were kinda surprising, I found a couple other sources:
another source for 7.2million shipped number http://www.vidgames.com/ps/misc/1996.html
Here's a SCEE document with the same numbers www.scee.presscentre.com/imageLibrary/downloadMedia.asp?MediaDetailsID=9264

The PS1 didn't seem to really take off until it hit the $150 price tag and had a larger library.

 

[Tat]

The PS1 launched in Dec 1994 in japan
It took 6 months to sell a million there

Compare that to the PS2 selling something like 900k in 3 days in Japan.

 

[jjasper]

People were waiting for the N64.

 

[Liquid]

wait so 360 is doing better than the original ps?

 

[RaijinFY]

wait so 360 is doing better than the original ps?

:lol

 

[Liquid]

"whos sony they'll never beat nintendo and sega":lol

 

[davepoobond]

wait so 360 is doing better than the original ps?

at least in the beginning, it would seem so

 

[Ponn]

wait so 360 is doing better than the original ps?

Yes, the second Gen MS console is doing better then the fresh and new to game console business branding Sony Playstation.

 

[mckmas8808]

"whos sony they'll never beat nintendo and sega":lol

:lol :lol


Were people really saying that?

 

[jjasper]

:lol :lol


Were people really saying that?

At first yes, is it really that suprising?

 

[Liquid]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00000JMXA/?tag=neogaf0e-20

 

[Suikoguy]

So i'm confused;

Are you trying to proove how far sony has come?

OR

Are you trying to proove that MS still has a chance to become #1?

 

[mckmas8808]

So i'm confused;

Are you trying to proove how far sony has come?

OR

Are you trying to proove that MS still has a chance to become #1?

The OP was trying to prove how far Sony has come imo.

But it looks like a certain person is spinning it like a football flying through the air.

 

[Liquid]

i'm not trying to spin anything. MS NEVER had a chance with the xbox. they were a joke. sony was never considered a joke. an odd match for the industry yes but never a joke. MS has now proven that it can play in this industry and is on a better playing field.

 

[Pope Benedict XVI]

These numbers show us that sales of new console, even if it is to go on to dominate, will always be relatively low until the incumbent shows its hand...

 

[argon]

It's pretty amazing that it only took 1.5 years for the PSX to come down to $149/£129, and by then it only had about 12 million shipped.

PS3 will probably take 4 years to hit that price point, if ever. Of course it has Blu-Ray and incredible brand power, so it's difficult to make direct comparisons.

 

[Frankfurter]

These numbers show us that sales of new console, even if it is to go on to dominate, will always be relatively low until the incumbent shows its hand...

No.

 

[Mrbob]

Hope for the PSP yet!

Sales boost coming.

 

[speedpop]

It took another 17 posts till someone referenced the PSP!

FOR SHAME NEOGAF!

 

[Lapsed]

Keep in mind that the PS1 had more competition than any other time period with consoles. There were many people getting into the console market who shouldn't have been. The industry went through a 'shake-down' then.

Hope for the PSP yet!

Sales boost coming.

A historical parallel would better fit the DS. The DS had sluggish sales until shooting off in Japan and, it appears, rising in the West.

As the industry is currently in another 'shake-down', I expect another underdog to rise with the consoles.

 

[Moneyhats2k5]

Keep in mind that the PS1 had more competition than any other time period with consoles. There were many people getting into the console market who shouldn't have been. The industry went through a 'shake-down' then.



A historical parallel would better fit the DS. The DS had sluggish sales until shooting off in Japan and, it appears, rising in the West.

As the industry is currently in another 'shake-down', I expect another underdog to rise with the consoles.

The successor to the GBA, which was also backwards compatible with the most successful handheld of all time? LOL.

Another shakedown? The same three companies are releasing again this time around. Unless you mean the EVO. :lol :lol :lol

You have to give props to Sony though, they waded through the 32-bit knife fight that was the N64, Jaguar, 3DO/M2, Saturn, Neo Geo CD, and 32X. We'll probably never see that again, a newcomer coming in and absolutely dominating the the incumbents.

 

[jarrod]

The successor to the GBA, which was also backwards compatible with the most successful handheld of all time? LOL.

DS isn't exactly a GBA successor though... it's success is really rooted in a differing focus and brand all together. And it did stumble out the gates too.