Microsoft's breaking records with the Xbox, and the PS3 has won the platform contest for 2010... but what does it all mean?
Two press releases crawled into our inbox today. On the one hand there’s Sony Computer Entertainment Australia boldly claiming victory in the Christmas Console Sale Wars, and, on the other, there’s Microsoft Australia boldly claiming victory in the Christmas Console Sale Wars.
I... what?!
So the question is, who really won, and what does winning really mean these days anyway? And, in all honesty, it’s kind of hard to decipher given the layers of spin that both houses (alike in dignity, etc) put on their respective announcements. Here’s the key line from SCEA’s release, followed by the similar point from Microsoft:
Sony: “PS3 platform achieved the number one place in terms of value and year on year value growth, representing 27% of the approximate AU$1.7 billion industry accounting for AU$469 million across more than 5 million units of PS3 product.” Microsoft: “Xbox 360 bucked the trend in a market where total console sales declined year on year, showing 20 per cent increase in total sales from the previous year.”
Sony: “PS3 platform achieved the number one place in terms of value and year on year value growth, representing 27% of the approximate AU$1.7 billion industry accounting for AU$469 million across more than 5 million units of PS3 product.”
Microsoft: “Xbox 360 bucked the trend in a market where total console sales declined year on year, showing 20 per cent increase in total sales from the previous year.”
Looking at the raw data, it seems that someone’s stretching the truth a little. However, the important thing to note is that by ‘value growth’, SCEA really means revenue, not unit sales. Similarly, when SCEA says ‘PS3 product’, the company’s really saying consoles, controllers, and software. The numbers are still impressive, however, even once you penetrate the marketing speak.
On the Xbox side of the fence, it looks as though Microsoft’s winning in terms of actual console sales, if not raw money made. Sony says it sold five million units of ALL PS3 product, whereas Microsoft claims that eight million Kinect units alone have been sold since its launch. Microsoft, tellingly, doesn’t mention revenue or profit at all.
So basically it looks like Sony’s made more money, but Microsoft’s got the edge on actual units pushed into homes. Given that’s based on the Kinect launch, and that releases on that front have been rather quiet since that launch, it’s difficult to predict if that’s going to parley into greater revenue for 2011.
What’s interesting for PC enthusiasts, though, is that with industry giant EA declaring an overall loss for the quarter ending in December 2010, and the console makers claiming year on year growth, we can only assume that it’s PC gaming that’s taken the big hit. Sadly, the fractured nature of that market makes it hard to track – there’s no one set platform license holder in the case of the PC.
Issue: 137 | June, 2012