Dreamcast Misses Projections

Sega Enterprises announced in a Bloomberg report that worldwide sales of its Dreamcast console have fallen short of expectations. The company originally targeted 4.9 million units in worldwide sales, but sales fell short of those expectations with a total of 4.65 million units being sold. The company was hit the hardest in Japan, where it has sold only 900,000 units, falling short of the project 1.1 million units. Interestingly enough, company officials blame the lack of quality games on the Dreamcast for the less-than-expected sales.

"Dreamcast needs a strategy change," said Takashi Oya, an analyst with Deutsche Securities. "Sega needs to give up competing with Dreamcast rivals and has to think about scaling back Dreamcast operations without incurring losses." Sega expects to sell 4.7 million units worldwide - 2.5 in the US, 1.2 million in Europe, and 1 million in Japan - by March 2001 for a total installed base of 9.35 million Dreamcast owners.