Sony announces 48,000 PS3’s sold over Christmas

By Chris Nicholls

SYDNEY: Sony Computer Entertainment Australia (SCE Australia) has announced it sold approximately 48,000 PlayStation 3’s over the 2007 Christmas period, taking their 2007 total to 155,000.

The data, collated by GfK, covered the five weeks before the end of the 2007 calendar year. The higher price of the PS3, especially in its $1000 launch incarnation, meant SCE Australia said the console captured the highest dollar value of any console in the industry over 2007.

Including the PlayStation Portable (PSP), Playstation 2 (PS2) and PS3, Sony sold over 175,000 PlayStation systems during the Christmas period. The PS2 captured 88,000 sales, while the PSP sold approximately 45,000 models, helped in part, according to SCE Australia, by the Simpson’s yellow special edition.

The PS2 also claimed top spot on the console sales charts for the year, according to Sony.

Both Microsft and Nintendo are yet to release their Christmas sales figures, with Nintendo’s due out next week.  

SCE Australia and New Zealand managing director Michael Ephraim said he was "delighted" to have finished the year in what he called a strong position. 

“Encouragingly, across the industry we are seeing interactive entertainment being embraced by an ever increasing number of consumers of all ages,” he said.

Ephraim said the current PS3/Bravia full HD television promotion had received a “considerable number” of redemptions thus far, and expected the campaign to add 20,000 PS3 sales before it finished on January 28.

SCE Australia said it expected more people to buy PSP’s with the arrival of PlayTV, which allows users to record TV on their PS3 and watch it on their PSP, as well as the new Skype functionality, which turns the console effectively into a phone.

Ephraim said SCE Australia and New Zealand would build on their sales momentum this year, with the arrival of titles such as Gran Tourismo 5 Prologue and Metal Gear Solid 4 for the PS3 and other exclusive titles for PS2, such as Buzz! and SingStar. The PSP would also see the release of games such as God of war: Chains of Olympus and Patapon, he said.